e Parables of Jesus 



ELBERT RUSSELL 



Class. f>tV?l 

Book JU. 

Gqpghtfl?- — 

COP/RIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The Parables of Jesus 



A Course of Ten Lessons 
Arranged for Daily Study 



BY 

ELBERT RUSSELL 

Professor in Earlham College 
Author of "Jesus of Nazareth in the Light of To-day" 




National Board 
of The Young Womens Christian Associations 
of the United States of America 
600 Lexington Avenue 
New York 



Copyright, 1909, 1912 
By National Board 
of The Young Womens Christian Associations 
of the United States of America 



0. i^o 

€C!.A314824 



CONTENTS 

Page 



Introduction 5 

Lesson I. Teaching by Parables 7 

The New Method — The Parable as a Means of 
Conveying Truth — Principles of Interpretation. 

Lesson II. The Parables of the King's Grace 17 

The Occasion of the Parables — The Lost Sheep — 
The Lost Coin — The Lost Son — God's Counting. 

Lesson III. The Growth of the Kingdom 26 

The Mustard Seed — The Leaven — The Seed Grow- 
ing Secretly. 

Lesson IV. The Struggle of the Kingdom Against 

Evil 36 

The Sower — The Wheat and the Tares — The Drag- 
net. 

Lesson V. Conditions of Membership in the King- 
dom of God 45 

The Hid Treasure and the Pearl of Great Price — 
The Ten Virgins — The Talents. 

Lesson VI. The Treasures of the Kingdom 53 

The Rich Fool — The Rich Man and Lazarus — The 
Unrighteous Steward. 

Lesson VII. The Social Meaning of Citizenship in 

the Kingdom of God 62 

The Unforgiving Servant — The Good Samaritan — 
The King's Judgment. 

Lesson VIII. Petitioning the King 71 

The Pharisee and the Publican — The Friend at Mid- 
night — The Unrighteous Judge. 



4 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 

Lesson IX. Unfit for the Kingdom 79 

The Two Sons — The Unprofitable Servant — The 
Laborers in the Vineyard. 

Lesson X. The Jewish Nation and the Kingdom of 

God 86 

The Barren Fig Tree — The Wicked Vinedressers — 
The Great Banquet — The Royal Marriage Feast. 



INTRODUCTION 



The purpose of the book is to introduce students 
to the teachings of Jesus as given in His recorded 
parables. It is not intended to take the place of the 
study of the parables themselves, but only to aid in 
the study and to suggest some practical results of 
the teaching. The course is arranged to cover ten 
weeks but may be shortened by omitting the last 
two lessons. 

The work is based on the text of the American 
Revised Version. At some points the King James' 
Version has readings that differ from it and the 
student should, at least, be able to refer to the 
American text. 

The following references will be found helpful 
to the student who desires works giving fuller 
treatment. I give them in order of their helpful- 
ness. Goebel's book is the best interpretation, but is 
based on the Greek text to such an extent that one 
who knows no Greek cannot get the full benefit 
of it. 

The Parables of Jesus. — Goebel. , 
The Parables of Jesus. — Dods. 
Notes on the Parables. — Trench. 
The Parables of Jesus. — Various Authors. 
The Parabolic Teaching of Christ. — Bruce. 
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. — Edersheim. 
In general, the works on the life of Christ and com- 
mentaries on the Gospels. 

I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to the 



6 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



works just mentioned by title. It has not been 
possible to give particular credit for the help re- 
ceived at each point in the book. 

Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, 
March ji, /pop. 



LESSON I 



TEACHING BY PARABLES 

First Day. The New Method. Mark 4 : 10-13, 33, 
34; Matt. 13:10-17; Luke 8:9, 10. 

1. The occasion of Jesus' first teaching exclu- 
sively in parables was a day about the middle of 
His Galilean ministry. He had used parables be- 
fore by way of illustration (cf. Mark 2:19-22; 
Luke 7:40-43); but on this day as Jesus taught 
by the seaside He presented the truths concerning 
the Kingdom of God altogether in parables. The 
disciples noted the change in method, and asked the 
reason. Jesus' answer (Matt. 13:11-15) refers to 
the fact expressed by Isaiah (6:9, 10) that one 
cannot present truth to men without leaving them 
duller of perception, if they reject it (cf. John 
12 : 40 ; Acts 28 : 26, 27) . At this time Jesus' teach- 
ing was developing hostility on one hand and on the 
other hand an over zealous following, which was 
likely to try to force Him into a Messianic revolu- 
tion, just as the multitude did later at the feeding 
of the five thousand (see John 6: 15). 

Therefore Jesus veiled His teaching in parables. 
This would hide His meaning from the shallow- 
minded and retard its effect on the receptive, but 
the story would lodge firmly in their minds and ex- 
cite curiosity, so as to lead them on to fuller under- 
standing of His teaching. To His disciples and to 



8 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



all eager to know more of the truth He explained 
the meaning more fully (Mark 4:11-13). 

2. Jesus' skill as a teacher shows itself nowhere 
clearer than in the way He adapted His methods 
to the needs of His hearers and to the circumstances 
of His work. When these changed He changed 
His methods. When direct teaching, such as is 
found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), 
was no longer suited to accomplish His purpose, 
He resorted to parables. 

3. Study other cases where Jesus changed His 
methods to suit changed conditions. Cf. Mark 
1:39 with 1:45; Mark 1:43, 44 with Mark 5: 
19, 20. See also Mark 8 : 31 ; John 4: 1-4. 

How well does Paul's definition of tact in Chris- 
tian work (1 Cor. 9:20-22) fit Jesus' practice? 

Second Day. The Parable as a Means of Convey- 
ing Truth. 

1. A parable is a brief narrative drawn from 
human life and told to convey some moral or re- 
ligious truth. "The little girl was very near the 
mark when she said that a parable is an earthly 
story with a heavenly meaning" (Taylor, Parables 
of Our Saviour). The parable differs from the 
fable in that it is drawn from human life only and 
is true to it (cf. Judges 9 : 7-21). It differs from the 
allegory in that it teaches a single point while every 
detail of the allegory is to be interpreted. In the 
Gospel of John we find allegories and sustained 
metaphors instead of parables. Such are the Good 



TEACHING BY PARABLES 



9 



Shepherd (John 10:11-18) and the Vine and the 
Branches (John 15). The parable differs from a 
story that is merely an illustration in that it is not 
a part of a larger discourse (cf. Luke 6:47-49). 

2. The parable is very effective as a means of 
teaching, especially of oral teaching such as Jesus 
did exclusively. 

(1) It is easily remembered, and even when not 
at first understood, it is like a seed dropped in the 
soil, which may bear fruit in the future. 

(2) It presents the truth in a concrete form, 
which makes it more easily grasped than if it were 
abstractly presented. 

(3) It excites curiosity and stimulates effort to 
get the truth embedded in it. Truth sought and 
labored for is more fully valued than that which 
costs nothing (cf. Prov. 2:1-5). 

The problem before every teacher is to get others 
to see the truth. For this it is not sufficient merely 
to state it as it appears to the mind of the teacher. 
As Robert Louis Stevenson says : "It takes two to 
tell the truth ; one to tell it and one to hear it." 

The truth which the teacher sees may seem like 
a falsehood to the hearer, if not rightly presented. 
Robert Browning says that it is the mission of art 
to make truth look true (The Ring and the Book). 
It was for this purpose that Jesus used the parable. 

Third Day. Principles of Interpretation. 

1. The story. The first thing in the study of a 
parable is to learn and understand the story. Some 



10 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



of the parables deal with matters almost as uni- 
versal as human life and in consequence require no 
explanation. But most of the stories involve cus- 
toms, conditions and ideas peculiar to the Jews of 
Palestine in Jesus' time and therefore require ex- 
planation before an American reader fully under- 
stands them. For example, it helps one understand 
the parable of the Prodigal Son to know that the 
husks which he desired to eat (Luke 15:15, 16) 
were the pods of the carob tree. One can hardly 
appreciate the parable of the Unforgiving Servant 
unless he know how much the ten thousand talents 
and the hundred shillings were worth (Matt. 18: 
24, 28). A knowledge of Jewish social customs is 
essential to an understanding of the parables of the 
Great Supper and Ten Virgins. 

2. The context. Often the best clews to the 
lesson of a parable are furnished by the context, 
which usually gives the occasion that called forth 
the parable and sometimes also the purpose and 
even the plain lesson of it. Thus Matt. 18 : 21, 22 
gives the occasion of the parable following and 
Matt. 19 : 27-30 and 20 : 16 give the occasion and 
lesson of the parable of the Laborers in the Vine- 
yard. See also Matt. 21 : 43 in relation to the pre- 
ceding parable and Luke 18 : 1 in connection with 
one that follows it. 

Fourth Day. Principles of Interpretation (Con- 
tinued). 

3. The central point. Jesus' parables are always 
told in such a way as to make everything center 



TEACHING BY PARABLES 



11 



about one point. A parable must not be forced to 
teach more than one lesson, however many other 
good lessons that lie beyond its purpose it may sug- 
gest. To try to get other lessons is to try to make 
an allegory of the story. The one lesson of a para- 
ble is to be sought at its central point. 

The central point should be determined with 
reference to the story as such and its context and 
should then be used as a guide in the interpretation. 
It is almost certain to lead to confusion, if one take 
the opposite course, first thinking of a lesson which 
the parable seems likely to teach and then trying 
to fit the story to it. 

"In searching for the central point attention must 
be paid to the parts of the story that are made 
emphatic in the telling and to those that are essential 
to the outcome of it as told. To do this one should 
pay special attention to the parts that are given in 
detail and the parts that are passed over with as 
few words as possible. The emphasis may be in- 
dicated by repetition of words, phrases, or by re- 
peated allusion to incidents or phases of the story. 
Attention should also be given to the place at which 
the story is taken up and where it ends. The central 
point must be such as to include or account for the 
whole story. A little practice in retelling the para- 
bles, changing the emphasis and leaving out or put- 
ting in parts, will soon show which parts are neces- 
sary to the point of the story as Jesus tells it and 
where His emphasis lies. In the parable of the Lost 
Sheep (Luke 15 : 3-7) notice how the idea of the 
search is emphasized negatively by the leaving of 



12 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



the ninety and nine, and positively by the phrase 
"go after that which is lost until he find it." Notice 
how the ideas of the loss, finding, and joy are em- 
phasized by the repetition of words. In the para- 
ble of the Seed Growing Secretly (Mark 4:26-29) 
notice how the beginning and end of the parable 
confine the man's activity to the sowing and harvest. 
The way is still further cleared for the central point 
by calling attention to the man's inactivity while the 
seed is growing and his ignorance of the process by 
which it grows. Then the central point is stated 
positively : "The earth beareth fruit of herself," and 
this power of the earth to make the seed grow is 
still further emphasized by the assertion that it 
makes it grow through all the stages, — "first the 
blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear." 
Negatively and positively the story is made to center 
about the assertion of the fruit-bearing capacity 
of the earth. 

Likewise in the parable of the Unrighteous Judge 
(Luke 18: 1-8) the central point is the persistence 
of the widow. In the parable of the Sower (Matt. 
13: 1-9) the central point is that the differences in 
results were due to differences in the soil. In 
the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matt. 
20: 1-16) the central point is that all who came as 
soon as they had opportunity received the same pay 
as those who were hired first. 

Fifth Day. Principles of Interpretation (Con- 
tinued) . 

4. Classes of parables. There are two distinct 



TEACHING BY PARABLES 



13 



classes of parables, which require different treat- 
ment in order to interpret them aright. 

(1) A symbolic parable is one in which each 
important element of the story symbolizes something 
in the spiritual realm. In such a parable the story 
is not directly about the real subject of the teaching. 
The parable of the Mustard Seed (Matt. 13 : 31, 32) 
is symbolic because its lesson is not about gardening 
or botany but about the growth of the kingdom of 
God. The story of the Drag-net (Matt. 13 : 47-50) 
was not told to give instruction about fishing, nor 
the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18: 
21-35) to teach a lesson in political science. 

Before getting the lesson of a symbolic parable, it 
is necessary to determine the spiritual equivalents 
of its elements. Thus in the parable of the Sower 
(Mark 4: 14-20) Jesus tells us that the sower is one 
who preaches the gospel, the seed is the word, the 
different soils are different classes of hearers, etc. 
Similarly it is evident from Matt. 21 : 31, 32 that 
in the parable of the Two Sons the first son repre- 
sents the scribes and Pharisees, and the second son, 
the publican and harlots. 

(2) A typical parable is one which gives a 
typical case of the matter in question. The story 
is taken from the very relations about which the 
lesson is to be taught. Thus the Good Samaritan 
(Luke 10: 27-37) is a typical case of true neighbor- 
liness. The parable of the Publican and Pharisee 
(Luke 18:9-14) gives typical cases of prayer 
offered in the right spirit and in the wrong spirit. 
In the parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12: 13-21) 



14 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



both story and lesson have to do with the attitude 
towards wealth. 

Jesus usually tells His typical parables in such a 
way that an attempt to treat them as symbolic re- 
sults is gross absurdity. The context is frequently 
a guide in classifying parables, since it shows 
whether the story is taken from the realm in which 
some truth is to be illustrated. 

To get the lesson of a typical parable it is only 
necessary to state the central truth. Since story 
and teaching are from the same field, the central 
point is the lesson. With the symbolic parables, on 
the other hand, it is necessary to get the statement 
of the central point of the story as such and then 
translate the symbolism into spiritual terms in order 
to get the lesson. For example, the central point 
of the parable of the Sower (Matt. 13: 1-9) is that 
the differences in results were due to differences 
in the soil. Now Jesus tells us that the seed repre- 
sents the message and the different soils represent 
different classes of hearers. The lesson is, then, 
that the varying results of preaching the same 
gospel are due to the varying receptivity of the 
hearers. 

Sixth Day. Principles of Interpretation (Con- 
tinued). 

5. The symbolism of the parables. This topic, 
of course, only applies to the symbolic parables. In 
dealing with the symbolism, it is necessary to ob- 
serve two points: First, there is no fixed, unchang- 



TEACHING BY PARABLES 



15 



ing meaning to be given to an element wherever it 
appears in different parables. Some commentators 
assert that there is a fixed language of symbols 
used in the Bible and that each must have the same 
value wherever it occurs. For example we are told 
that leaven is always a symbol of evil in the Bible 
and that therefore it must mean evil in the parable 
of the Leaven, even though Jesus begins by saying 
that the Kingdom of Heaven is like it. The theory 
breaks down, however, when we observe that in one 
place the devil is said to be like a roaring lion seek- 
ing whom he may devour and that Christ in another 
is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. More- 
over, Jesus has explained the symbolism of two 
parables, the Sower, and the Tares (Matt. 13:18- 
23, 36-43). The same symbols occur in both, but 
with different meanings. In one the seed is the 
word and the sower the preacher. In the other the 
good seed represents good men and the one who 
sowed it the Son of Man. In the one, the soil 
consists of different classes of hearers ; in the other 
the field is the world. This shows that we must 
interpret each parable by itself. 

In the second place, not all details are significant. 
Sometimes they simply belong to the story as a true 
transcript of life. In the parable of the Leaven 
(Matt. 13:33) the "three measures" are the cus- 
tomary amount of meal and have no other signifi- 
cance. Jesus Himself does not give a meaning to 
the servants in the parable of the Tares. They 
could not well be distinguished from the "Sons of 
the kingdom" already symbolized by the good seed. 



16 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



Seventh Day. Review. 

It will be well to review the preceding principles 
and apply them to the interpretation of a parable. 
There should be no difficulty in finding the lesson 
of a parable if the work indicated in this lesson has 
been carefully done. The lesson of the parable will 
be that of the central point. 

Take the simple and beautiful parable in Isaiah 
5 : 1-7 for practice. 

1. Tell the story and explain the nature and 
purpose of the details in the structure of the vine- 
yard (verse 2) ; the difference between the "grapes" 
expected and the "wild grapes" borne ; and the play 
on words in verse 7. 

2. The context. What light does verse 7 
throw on the purpose of the parable? Might the 
evils denounced in verse 8 to 23 be the "wild 
grapes" of the parable? 

3. The central point. State the central point of 
the story. Is it in verses 4 and 5? 

4. Is the parable typical or symbolic? (See 
verse 7.) 

5. Give the spiritual equivalents of (1) the 
owner, (2) the vineyard, (3) the wild grapes, (4) 
the destruction. 

6. State the teaching of the parable, basing it 
on your statement of the central point and the 
spiritual equivalents of the symbols. 



LESSON II 



THE PARABLES OF THE KING'S GRACE 
Luke 15 

First Day. The Occasion of the Parables. Luke 
15:1,2. 

Since the occasion of all the parables of this 
chapter is the same it ought to be considered in ad- 
vance. Luke does not locate the occasion definitely 
in Jesus' ministry, but from what he says we know 
it must be the occasion described in Matt. 9 : 9-13, 
Mark 2 : 13-17 or some similar one not recorded in 
the other gospels. 

The Pharisees' idea of righteousness was that of 
separation from all that might defile, whether men 
or things. Their name means "separated." Hence 
they held aloof from Gentiles and sinners and 
despised the common people who did not scrupu- 
lously observe the law (cf. John 7:49). The 
Pharisees believed that all the separation from other 
peoples enjoined in the law and still further elab- 
orated in their traditions (cf. Mark 7: 1-5) was en- 
joined by God and represented His attitude toward 
sinners and Gentiles. Men who want to do right 
try to do what they think God does or would have 
them do. 

Jesus' idea of righteousness is not a negative 
state to be preserved only by careful avoidance of 
all contact with evil, but an inward state of victory 



18 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



over sin that has not only power to keep one's self 
pure, but power to heal and help others. A physi- 
cian does not seek well people, but those who are 
ill. So a good man seeks sinners not to descend 
to their moral state, but to help them up to his. In 
this, these parables teach, he is like God. 

Second Day. The Lost Sheep. Luke 15:3-7. 

1. The story. To an Oriental shepherd his 
sheep are much more than so much wool and mut- 
ton. Except on rare festal occasions the Jewish 
shepherd did not eat of his flock. The days he 
spent alone with his sheep made them his close 
companions. He knew them by face and name and 
they knew his voice. He labored to care for them 
and might be called on to defend them from wild 
beasts and robbers at peril of his life. It was a face 
he knew and loved that the shepherd missed as the 
ninety-nine passed under the rod into the fold. 

The following passages give a good idea of the 
shepherd's relation to his sheep : Gen. 31 : 38-40 ; 
1 Sam. 17:34-37; Ezek. 34:11-16; John 10:7-16; 
Ps. 23. 

See also The Historical Geography of the Holy 
Land, G. A. Smith, p. 311 ; The Parables of Jesus, 
by various authors, pp. 370, 371. 

2. Context and central point. The occasion of 
the parable has already been discussed. Jesus Him- 
self gives the lesson of it in 15 : 7. The central 
point is plainly, even without verse 7, the owner's 
love for the lost sheep which leads him to search 



THE PARABLES OF THE KING'S GRACE 19 

till he finds it and makes him rejoice over its re- 
covery. 

3. The parable is symbolic. The shepherd repre- 
sents God. It is He who rejoices "in heaven." 
The lost sheep is the sinner. It is not necessary to 
find an equivalent for the "wilderness" and the 
"friends and neighbors." 

4. The lesson is clear. God loves men because 
they belong to Him. He does not scorn and de- 
spise the man who is lost in sin, and, Pharisee-like, 
hold aloof till perchance the sinner may save himself 
and recover his purity; but God Himself seeks to 
save him and rejoices whenever He leads him to 
repent. 

5. The Jews avoided the name of God as much 
as possible and often used "heaven" instead (cf. 
Matt. 5 : 34 ; Matt. 5 : 3 with Luke 6 : 20) . 

6. Is the lesson of Matt. 18 : 10-14 the same as 
that of this parable? 

Third Day. The Lost Coin. Luke 15 : 8-10. 

1. The story. Again Jesus chooses an object to 
which sentiment adds value. The ten coins were 
possibly worn across the woman's forehead or 
braided in her hair as ornaments ; or they may have 
been the betrothal pledge of her lover. To lose one 
of them would be like an American girl's losing the 
diamond from her engagement ring. 

The coin is a drachma, worth about sixteen cents. 
The house is a Jewish house of the poorer sort, 
without windows and having only a dirt floor. Part 



20 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



of it may have been occupied and littered by the 
chickens, goat or donkey kept by the family. To 
find the coin on such a floor, it would be necessary 
to light a lamp and sweep diligently. The broom 
would be much like an old-fashioned splint-broom. 

2. The occasion and central point are the same 
as in the preceding parable. The lesson (15:10) 
is again the love of the owner which leads her to 
seek for the lost and rejoice over its recovery. 

3. The symbolism and lesson are given by Jesus. 
The woman represents God. It is He who rejoices 
"in the presence of the angels." Note that it does 
not read "among the angels" as it is often quoted. 
The lost coin represents the sinner. 

4. State the lesson. 

Fourth Day. The Lost Son. Luke 15 : 11-32. 

1. The story. The name "prodigal" or "spend- 
thrift" calls attention to a minor detail of the para- 
ble. "Lost" son is better. The two preceding 
parables are in form questions addressed to the 
Pharisees. This is entirely in narrative form, with- 
out even the frequent introductory phrase, "The 
Kingdom of God is like" (cf. Matt. 13:24, 44, 
45, 47). 

According to the Jewish law of inheritance (Deut. 
21:17) the part of the father's property falling to 
the younger son would be one third. At this time 
he divided "the living" or savings, not the land, 
between them. 

Galilee was crossed by roads leading to the "far 



THE PARABLES OF THE KING'S GRACE 21 



country" in every direction. George Adam Smith 
suggests {Historical Geography of the Holy Land, 
p. 431) that it was to a city of Phoenicia that the 
prodigal son went to see the world when he left the 
farm in some fertile valley of Galilee. Here he 
would find the sensual luxury, the harlots and the 
swine. 

The "husks" which he was driven to eat were the 
pods of the carob tree. They resemble the pods of 
the honey locust tree and like them have a sweet 
substance where the seeds are attached (see a Bible 
dictionary under "husks"). 

The "fatted calf" was one kept shut up and well 
fed that it might be ready for a feast (1 Sam. 28: 
24; Amos 6:4). 

2. Context and central point. The occasion of 
the parable is the same as that of the two preceding. 
Here Jesus gives no explanation of the teaching 
of the parable as in the case of the others, but 
verse 32 plainly gives the central point of the story 
in the father's words to the elder brother. It is the 
joy of the father over the return of the son he had 
loved and lost. Notice how the story in each of its 
two parts reaches its climax in this joy, both when 
the prodigal arrives (15 : 20-24) and when the elder 
brother refuses to come in (15: 32). 

3. Like the other two it is a symbolic parable. 
The father represents God; the younger brother, a 
sinner; the elder brother, the Pharisees or others 
legally righteous. The other details need not be in- 
terpreted. The lesson is exactly expressed by 15 : 7. 



22 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



Fifth Day. The Lost Son (Continued). 

1. The elder brother (Luke 15:25-32) intro- 
duces a new feature in these parables. He gives 
the Pharisaic point of view. He has never trans- 
gressed a commandment, nor has he, on the other 
hand, ever known the true meaning of sonship. He 
has not had the full fellowship with his father that 
filial love should bring. He has served as a hired 
servant, and takes it ill that his father has never 
given him by way of reward so much as a kid. His 
father reminded him with pained surprise that all 
the father had was his. If he had not enjoyed it, 
it was his mistake. The elder brother lacks not 
righteousness but love. Had he known a brother's 
love, his heart, too, would have leapt with joy at 
the news that the lost brother was home again. He 
had no conception of the moral change of repent- 
ance. To him the brother, however repentant and 
changed morally, would always be only the spend- 
thrift debauchee of other days. No wonder he was 
angry that the father should so reward the prodigal 
with a feast and neglect himself ! 

2. The elder brother represents those who put 
religion on a legal basis, serving not from pure 
filial love, but seeking to earn a reward. It was 
this attitude which led the Pharisees to despise sin- 
ners. Feeling no brotherly love for other men, they 
could neither appreciate nor rejoice over repent- 
ance, because the sinner's evil record was a final, 
unchangeable barrier to fellowship in their view. 
To them the grace of God was beyond comprehen- 
sion. It seemed unjust to make effort to restore 



THE PARABLES OF THE KING'S GRACE 23 



the sinner since what he deserved was punishment 
rather than help, and it seemed wrong to rejoice 
over one whose sins were, in their view, a forever 
fixed and disgraceful fact. Their religion lacked 
love. 

3. The elder brother may be, in Jesus' mind, 
one of the ninety-nine righteous persons who, in 
their own estimation, need no repentance (15:7). 
If so the language must be regarded as ironical. 
However, Jesus probably made the comparison of 
15 : 7 between sinners and persons actually right- 
eous. We must not make the mistake of thinking 
that the joy of these parables is a measure of abso- 
lute value. It is rather the natural expression of 
love at the recovery of its own. A man rejoices 
more over five dollars lost and found than over a 
hundred dollars secure in the bank, but he does not 
value the five dollars more. One who had never 
sinned would be worth more to God than a re- 
pentant sinner. 

Sixth Day. God's Counting. 

1. These parables give us a lesson in the way 
God counts with his heart. A child cannot count 
very far. Men and women count farther, but we 
all soon reach numbers that mean nothing to us. If 
a man had before him a pile containing a million 
silver dollars, he could never unaided know it, if 
some one slipped one away, and if he did miss one, 
he would not feel the loss. Does God have so many 
worlds of people that He does not know it when 



24 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



one of us is lost; or care if one among the many- 
does go astray? 

2. Here is the lesson of God's counting as Jesus 
and the prophets give it : Two, Luke 15 : 11 ; Matt. 
10:29. Five, Luke 12:6. Ten, Luke 15:8. A 
hundred, Luke 15 : 4. The number of the hairs of 
the head, Matt. 10 : 30 ; Luke 12 : 7. Of the birds, 
Matt. 10:31; Luke 12:7b. Of the stars, Isaiah 
40:26, 27. 

"Father of all," he urges his strong plea, 
"Thou lovest all; Thy erring child may be 
Lost to himself, but never lost to Thee." 

— Whittier, The Cry of a Lost Soul. 

Seventh Day. Reviezv. 

1. Re-read Luke 15. 

2. The lesson of the three parables is the same, 
the fatherly love of God working to save sinners. 
The fullest and most concise expression of their 
main thought is found in John 3:16 and 1 John 
4:8, 16. Perhaps Jesus added the parable of the 
Lost Coin to suggest that the love of God has the 
mother's tenderness as well as the father's strength. 
Would it not be truer to speak of the parenthood of 
God than merely of His fatherhood? 

3. The first two of the parables lay the emphasis 
on the effort of God to save. This is one of the 
distinctive features of Christ's teaching. Other re- 
ligions and religious teachers tell the sinner, in ef- 
fect, that, if he can cleanse and reform himself so 
as to become righteous, God will receive him. Jesus 
teaches that God is a Saviour; that He ever seeks 



THE PARABLES OF THE KING'S GRACE 25 



the sinner that He may help him become righteous. 
When Jesus received and associated with sinners in 
order to win them back through repentance to right- 
eousness, He was revealing God. Read the con- 
cluding paragraph of Browning's An Epistle. 

4. The third parable lays the stress on the re- 
pentance, which is the final condition requisite for 
the recovery of the lost man. The beast can be laid 
on the shoulder and brought home, but all that love 
can do to save the lost man is to help him "come to 
himself" in repentance and to welcome him home 
with joyful forgiveness. Even the love of God must 
wait on human freedom. 

"The sweet persuasion of His voice, 
Respects thy sanctity of will : 
He giveth day; thou hast thy choice 
To walk in darkness still." 

— Whittier, The Answer. 

God can save the man only by winning him from 
his sinfulness. 



LESSON III 



THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 

First Day. The Mustard Seed. Matt. 13 : 31, 32 ; 
Mark 4: 30-32 ; Luke 13 : 18, 19. 

1. The Kingdom of God. The best definition of 
the Kingdom of God is found in the Lord's Prayer 
(Matt. 6:9-13). It is that condition in which 
God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven. The 
kingdom exists wherever there is one who is loy- 
ally obedient to God as a subject to his king (Luke 
17:21, marg.). The kingdom will reach its con- 
summation when all men become members (Phil. 
2: 9-11). 

Jesus' other name for God's kingdom is God's 
family, — a condition in which men reverence, trust 
and obey God as their Father and love and help 
one another as brothers (cf. Mark 3: 35). 

The kingdom is thus a spiritual state, which, 
while it affects the outward life, does not consist 
essentially of anything external (John 4:21-24; 
Luke 17:20; Rom. 14:17). Men enter it by be- 
ginning a new spiritual life of filial loyalty to God 
and of brotherliness toward men (Matt. 18: 3; 19: 
14; John 3:3, 5). See the discussion and summary 
in Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, 
Bk. 11, Chap. XI. (Vol. L, p. 270— Herrick Ed.) 

2. The Mustard Seed. This is one of the para- 
bles given by Jesus as He taught by the seaside on 



THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 27 



a certain day, when for the first time He taught ex- 
clusively in parables. The parables given on this 
occasion relate to the Kingdom of God as a whole : 
its growth, value and destiny. The parable does 
not relate a particular incident, but instances a com- 
mon fact of life. The mustard seed is chosen be- 
cause it was the smallest of common seeds yielding 
so large a growth. The central point is the great 
result springing from such a small beginning. The 
symbolism of the parable is apparent. The mustard 
seed is the Kingdom of God ; the Man who sows it 
is Jesus; the field is humanity. The birds that 
lodge in the branches need not be interpreted. They 
are introduced to show how great the resulting 
growth becomes. The parable teaches the very 
great growth of the kingdom from its very small 
beginning. 

Second Day. The Mustard Seed (Continued). 

1. Consider how small was the beginning of the 
kingdom Jesus founded. Jesus appeared to the 
Jewish rulers as an unlearned Galilean peasant 
(John 7:15). His disciples belonged to the same 
class (Acts 4:13). Their efforts lacked the pres- 
tige that learning, wealth or aristocratic birth would 
have given. They had no support from army, gov- 
ernment or church. To the casual observer, Jesus' 
movement did not have greater importance than 
that of hundreds of religious enthusiasts who trou- 
bled Judea from time to time with wild Messianic 
claims and small revolutionary bands (cf. Acts 
5:36, 37; 21:38). 



28 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



2. Consider also how great the kingdom has 
grown to be; how it has spread through the world 
and embraced nations ; how it has enlisted the ser- 
vices of martyr, crusader, and missionary; fur- 
nished themes for poets, inspiration for artists and 
musicians, and subjects for scholars, until to-day 
Christianity embraces a large part of mankind. 

3. Jesus' prediction of the growth of the King- 
dom of God has been thus far verified. This gives 
us confidence that it will still more increase in ex- 
tent. The missionary enterprise brings us face to 
face to-day with "religions more ancient and more 
outwardly impressive than our own." We are con- 
scious of our moral defects, of the slackened zeal 
of many church members, of the paralysis of 
division, materialism and worldliness. We tend to 
become discouraged because after so many cen- 
turies so much remains to be done. But we need to 
remember that it is not the size but the vitality, not 
the present achievement but the power of the king- 
dom that we are to trust. Christianity still has 
unexhausted vitality. 

4. The parable is not only true of the growth of 
the Kingdom of God among men, but also of its 
growth within us. If once planted in us, though our 
faith be but as a grain of mustard seed (Luke 
17:5, 6) it has the potency to embrace the whole 
man, becoming victorious over our thoughts and 
affections as well as our wills, until "Christ be 
formed in us" (Gal. 4:19). (Cf. John 7:17; 
2 Cor. 3: 18; 1 Thess. 5:23.) 



THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 29 

Third Day. The Leaven. Matt. 13 : 33 ; Luke 13 : 
20, 21. 

1. Both Matthew and Luke assign this parable 
to the same occasion as that of the Mustard Seed. 
They are both alike in calling attention to a common 
fact of life. Three measures — nearly a bushel of 
meal — seem to have been the ordinary amount 
mixed for one baking (see Gen. 18:6; Judges 
6:19; 1 Sam. 1:24). The yeast or leaven was 
thoroughly worked into the dough until it was "hid- 
den." The central point is the power of the small 
lump of yeast to transform the whole mass of 
dough. Leaven is usually used in the Bible as a 
symbol of evil, probably because fermentation was 
regarded as a corruption (see Ex. 34:25; Luke 
12: 1; 1 Cor. 5:6-8). But here Jesus uses it as a 
symbol of the kingdom. He teaches that good is as 
great a transforming agency as evil. The symbol- 
ism is very like that of the previous parable. The 
woman is Christ. The leaven is the kingdom. The 
meal is mankind. 

2. Both parables "emphasize the small begin- 
nings of God's kingdom and predict the mighty and 
widespread growth which will follow. And they 
both alike show us the magnificent confidence the 
Saviour had in Himself, His mission and the king- 
dom which He had come to build up. In both 
parables we see the slow, steady, irresistible ad- 
vance of the Divine thought and purpose ever 
broadening out, striking deeper and gaining more 
ground. And yet along with these resemblances 
there is one most noteworthy difference. The mus- 



30 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



tard seed grows and expands outwardly, and 
openly; the leaven spreads quietly, imperceptibly, 
hiding its workings from the eyes of man" {The 
Parables of Jesus, by various authors, pp. 66, 67). 

3. The lesson of the parable is the power of the 
kingdom to permeate and transform human life in 
all its aspects. 

Fourth Day. The Leaven (Continued). 

1. The parable "represents the spiritual and 
moral forces of the kingdom, its thoughts and senti- 
ments, its laws and its ideals, moving on and get- 
ting themselves half unconsciously accepted, pene- 
trating and permeating the life of the individual, 
and slowly diffusing themselves through the mass 
of human society" {The Parables of Jesus, by 
various authors). 

2. Consider how far this leavening process has 
already gone; how many age-old, unchallenged 
evils and evil institutions which existed in Jesus' 
day have passed from the life of Christendom. 
Slavery, polygamy and tyranny have passed away 
as the leaven of the spirit of Jesus has worked in 
the world. A reading of such a book as Lecky's 
History of European Morals gives one a strong im- 
pression of the great transformation which the cus- 
toms and spirit of European life have undergone. 

3. Sometimes, when we read the Sermon on the 
Mount and realize how far the life of humanity is 
still from being in accord with Jesus' ideals, we are 
tempted to be discouraged. This parable of Jesus 
reassures us, however, that the leaven will continue 



THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 31 



to work until the whole is leavened. Against war, 
and the saloon, the political disfranchisement of 
women, the injustice of our wage system, the wastes 
of competition, the cruelties of child labor, the 
struggle of the Spirit of Christ still seems to sway 
uncertain of the issue. But we have the moral pro- 
gress of two millenniums to add to Jesus' prophecy 
in this parable for our encouragement. 

4. It is strengthening to us at times to try to 
realize in imagination what will be the spirit of 
civilization and its social and moral expression 
when the whole shall have been leavened. Such a 
study is John's vision of the new Heaven and new 
Earth in Revelation 21, 22. 

5. The moral transformation of the world be- 
gins with a change in the life of the individual. 
Individual character and destiny are not fixed by 
the stars, nor by heredity and environment. The 
leaven of the gospel can transform us into new and 
diviner characters. If we let Christ place the leaven 
of His love in us, we may become sons of God. 
Study John 3 : 3, 5 ; Eph. 2 : 1-22 ; Gal. 5 : 22 ; 2 Cor. 
3:17, 18; Rom. 12:1, 2. 

Fifth Day. The Seed Growing Secretly. Mark 
4:26-29. 

1. This parable, given by Mark alone, is, like 
each of the two preceding parables of this lesson, 
one of the parables spoken by the sea (Mark 4:1). 
In this parable the story does not purport to give a 
specific instance of a common fact, but gives a 
hypothetic case. This should prevent our laying 



32 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



emphasis on the story in a parable as being an actual 
occurrence. It is only necessary that a parable 
be true to life. Often it gains in value by being 
an imagined story, since in that case the narrator 
puts in details only that are relevant to the teach- 
ing. The lesson of the parable is not the facts it 
purports to tell, but the spiritual truth it conveys. 

2. The story of this parable has to do with one 
of the most common activities of farm life. The 
seed in this case is wheat or barley, — some grain 
that needs no cultivation after planting. 

3. The central point of the story is found in 
the statement, "The earth beareth fruit of her- 
self" (verse 28). The parable mentions the activity 
of the farmer at seed-sowing and harvest, but 
emphasizes his inactivity between these two points. 
He sleeps and rises as night and day require, but 
does not attempt to make the grain grow. That is 
beyond his sphere. He does not know how it 
grows and cannot therefore make it grow. On the 
other hand the earth bears the fruit itself with- 
out his knowledge or aid. The various stages of 
growth — the blade, the ear, the ripened grain — 
are mentioned not to emphasize the law of gradual 
growth, but to show that the earth brings the 
seed to fruition through all its stages. 

4. The symbolism is clear. The seed is the 
Kingdom of God. Christ plants it. The soil is 
humanity. 

5. The parables of the Mustard Seed and 
Leaven illustrate the inherent vitality of seed and 
leaven; their power to grow and transform. This 



THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 33 



parable illustrates the other side of the truth: the 
capacity of the soil to make the seed develop un- 
aided by the personal care of the sower. Human 
nature is capable of developing the kingdom to 
its fruition, once Christ has planted it among men. 

Sixth Day. The Seed Growing Secretly (Contin- 
ued). 

1. Just as the parables of the Mustard Seed 
and Leaven emphasize Jesus' faith in the vital 
power of His movement, so this parable of the 
"fruitbearing earth," as it has been called, shows 
Jesus' faith in the possibilities of human nature. 
It is easier for most of us to believe in the goodness 
of God than to believe in the virtue and potential 
goodness of men. But Jesus knew what was in 
man (John 2: 25) and so He trusted men. It was 
to common, sinful men that He gave commandment 
to love one another as He loved them (John 13 : 34) 
and to be perfect even as God is perfect (Matt. 
5:48). Where they and their neighbors saw only 
their faults, Jesus saw their divine possibilities. 

2. Consequently, Jesus confined His work to 
founding His kingdom. He seemed careless to a 
fault as to its future. He dropped His words half 
carelessly by the way among the multitudes; 
trained a few half-hearted disciples for a year or 
two; then went to His death. Compare Jesus' 
comparision of His work to kindling a fire (Luke 
12:49, 50, R. V. marg.). 

3. "Christ might have done all this work Him- 
self, with His own hands. But He did not. The 



34 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



crowning wonder of His scheme is that He en- 
trusted it to men." "The usual methods of propa- 
gating a great cause were entirely disregarded 
by Christ. The sword He declined ; money He had 
none; literature He never used; the church dis- 
owned Him; the state crucified Him. Planting 
His ideals in the hearts of a few poor men, He 
started them out unheralded to revolutionize the 
world." "Organizations, institutions, churches, 
have too much rigidity for a thing that is to flood 
the world. The only fluid in the world is man. 
War might have won for Christ a passing victory; 
wealth might have purchased a superficial triumph ; 
political power might have gained a temporal suc- 
cess. But in these there is no note of universality, 
of solidarity, of immortality. To live through the 
centuries and pervade the uttermost ends of the 
earth, to stand while kingdoms tottered and civ- 
ilizations changed, to survive fallen churches and 
crumbling creeds, — there was no soil for the King- 
dom of God like the hearts of common men" 
(Drummond, The Programme of Christianity.) 

Seventh Day. Review. 

1. Re-read the parables. 

2. Think how Jesus' faith in the future of Chris- 
tanity has been verified by history. How ought this 
to affect our estimate of Jesus' character and 
work? 

3. Ought we not to gain from the parables of 
this lesson a higher estimate of the possibilities of 
all men? Ought we to despair of the salvation of 



THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM 



35 



any, however criminal, ignorant, depraved or 
heathenish ? 

4. The lesson should help us to present the 
claims of Christ and the truths of the gospel to men 
and women about us with greater faith in both the 
message and its reception by the hearer. 

5. Compare the lesson of Isaiah 55 : 10, 11 with 
1 Cor. 3 : 6, 7. 



LESSON IV 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE KINGDOM AGAINST 
EVIL 

First Day. The Sower. Mark 4:1-9, 13-20; 
Matt. 13 : 1-9, 18-23 ; Luke 8 : 4-8, 11-15. 

Mark's account may be made the basis of the 
study. The other accounts, although they differ in 
details, add nothing to the parable. 

1. The story does not give an exceptional case, 
but the common happenings during the process of 
sowing grain in Palestine. The roads were for the 
most part simply paths running through or between 
the fields. There were usually no fences, so that 
the field alongside the way might be trampled hard 
by people walking beside the path. The rocky 
ground was where the limestone bed-rock which 
everywhere underlies Palestine came near the sur- 
face so as to leave only a very thin layer of soil 
above it. "Thistles" would be a better translation 
than thorns. "There is probably no country on 
earth of the same extent that has so many plants 
with prickers and thorns as the Holy Land" 
{Hastings' D. B.). Notwithstanding the fact that 
goats, asses and camels feed on most varieties of 
them, they "flourish and multiply and in many 
places take possession of the land." Even the soil 
that will grow grain varies in quality so that the 
yield varies greatly. A hundred-fold increase was 
not unknown in favored spots of Galilee. 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE KINGDOM 37 



2. The context. This is the first of the parables 
spoken to the crowds by the seaside as Jesus taught 
them from the boat. All the parables of this occa- 
sion have to do with the kingdom of God as a 
movement and spiritual opportunity. These para- 
bles followed the Pharisees' accusation that Jesus 
was casting out demons by Beelzebub, which evi- 
denced the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders 
to Jesus. 

Jesus Himself explained the symbolism of the 
parable to the disciples (Mark 4:13-20), and ex- 
pressed the practical lesson in the exhortation of 
Mark 4 : 24, 25. 

3. The central point of the parable is that, once 
the seed is sown, the result depends on and varies 
with the character of the soil. Strictly speaking 
this is not a parable of the Sower, but of the soil. 
The titles sometimes given, "parable of the field" or 
"parable of the divers soils," are more truly de- 
scriptive of it. Jesus Himself calls it the parable 
of the Sower, because of the Jewish custom of 
naming a narrative after the first prominent person 
or object mentioned in it (cf. Mark 12 : 26). 

Second Day. The Sower (Continued). 

1. The lesson of the parable is that the progress 
of the kingdom — the fruitfulness of the seed sown 
by Jesus — depends on the attitude of the hearers. 
As the hostility of the Jewish leaders developed and 
the masses showed themselves unreceptive, it must 
have tended to disturb the disciples' confidence in 
Jesus and His work. This parable was to warn 



38 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



them not to expect immediate and universal accept- 
ance of the gospel, to warn them to expect failures 
and to explain that such failures are not due to 
any defect in the kingdom, but to unreceptiveness 
on the hearers' part. The progress of the kingdom 
is conditioned by the hearers. 

2. The parable shows in what varying degrees 
the message of the gospel may take hold of men, — 
some bearing no fruit and some becoming fruitful. 
Even among those whose hearts are "good soil" 
the degree of fruitfulness varies. Here, too, the 
diversity of results is due to man, not to the king- 
dom. Read Eccl. 11 : 6. 

3. These two lessons were for the disciples and 
other interested and responsive listeners, to teach 
them not to become discouraged and lose faith in 
the kingdom because of the unequal results of 
preaching the gospel. Another lesson of great prac- 
tical importance for all is immediately suggested by 
the main teaching of the parable. We ourselves 
determine by our attitude whether or not we are 
fruitful soil for the truth of the gospel. Jesus puts 
it as an exhortation with a promise: "Take heed 
what ye hear. For he that hath, to him shall be 
given." Read Mark 4 : 9, 23-25. 

Third Day. The Wheat and the Tares. Matt. 
13 : 24-30. 

1. The story. It is not unknown in the Orient 
at the present time for a man to sow his enemy's 
grain field with some troublesome weed. The tares 
were most probably the bearded darnel. "Cheat" 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE KINGDOM 39 

would express the meaning best to an -American 
farm boy. The tares could not be distinguished 
from the wheat until the plants headed out. 

2. The context and symbolism. The occasion 
of the parable is the same as that of the Sower. 
Jesus gives an interpretation of the symbolism in 
verses 36-43. It is to be noted that Jesus assigns a 
different meaning to the seed here from that given 
it in the preceding parable. There the seed is the 
word; here it represents members of the kingdom. 
Jesus does not give a meaning to the servants, be- 
cause they are included in the class designated as 
the good seed and because the words of the servants 
are important rather than their identity. 

3. The central point of the parable lies in the 
reply to the servant's question, "Wilt thou then that 
we go and gather them up?" The servants are for- 
bidden to attempt to destroy the darnel, because 
they cannot do so without destroying wheat also, 
and because at the harvest God will do it rightly. 

4. The lesson is that the servants of Christ must 
not undertake to rid the world of evil men by force. 
If they should attempt it they would destroy good 
men with the evil. On the other hand God Himself 
will, in the end, make a separation between the 
good and evil. 

Fourth Day. The Wheat and Tares (Continued). 

1. The parable of the Wheat and Tares follows 
that of the Sower naturally. On learning from the 
latter parable that the gospel would not win all 
men because it would not find effective lodgment in 



40 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



some hearts, the question would naturally present 
itself, "Shall not the kingdom's triumph be accom- 
plished by violently removing the evil men whom 
the spiritual power of the kingdom cannot win?" 
Jesus answers, "No." The good and evil influences 
are to develop together; the kingdom must pro- 
gress by spiritual forces alone. 

2. With this lesson of the parable compare the 
teaching of John 18:36, 37; Luke 6:27-36; Rom. 
12 : 17-21. 

3. A study of history shows how just is Jesus' 
prohibition of the use of violence to rid the church 
or the world of evil men; how true it is that men 
are not competent to destroy evil men without de- 
stroying the good also; and how damaging to the 
progress of Christianity every disregard of this in- 
junction by Christians has been. The Crusades 
not only failed to supplant Islam by Christianity, 
but even to-day Mohammedans are the most difficult 
of all non-Christians to be won for Christ. The 
inquisition of the Medieval Church destroyed the 
choicest and best men, we now believe, that the age 
produced. The Thirty Years' War led to the moral 
and spiritual barrenness of Germany in the later 
eighteenth century, and the Massacre of St. 
Bartholomew's Day found its fruition in the 
French Revolution. 

4. It is the business of Christians to serve Christ 
in sowing the seeds of truth and love. We are 
competent to help and teach men, but the judgment 
of men for their final destiny must be left to God 
who alone is competent to effect a true separation 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE KINGDOM 



41 



of the evil from the good (cf. Matt. 7:1-5; Rom. 
14: 10-13). 

That God will finally make the separation is the 
assertion of the latter part of this parable and the 
lesson of the next to be considered. 

Fifth Day. The Drag-net. Matt. 13 : 47-50. 

1. The occasion. This parable is found in 
Matthew only. It is given as one of the three 
spoken by Jesus in the house after He had spoken 
to the multitudes by the sea (Matt. 13:36-53). 
Since it is the custom of the writer of the first gos- 
pel to supplement the important discourses of Jesus 
by teaching drawn from other sources bearing on 
the same subject, and since Mark explicitly tells us 
that as soon as Jesus finished teaching the multi- 
tudes by the sea, the disciples took Him as He was 
in the boat to the other side (Mark 4: 35, 36), we 
cannot be sure just when the parables of the Hid 
Treasure, the Pearl of Great Price and the Drag-net 
were spoken. 

2. The story. The net which is mentioned is a 
long draw-net or seine, used to enclose a small sec- 
tion of the sea and draw out all that is found in it. 

3. The central point in the story is that after 
the haul was made not all the fish enclosed in the 
seine were preserved, but that the catch was sorted 
and the bad thrown away. In the process of sein- 
ing it is impossible to know what is being taken 
until the seine is drawn up on the shore. 

4. The lesson of the parable is plainly stated in 
verses 49, 50. The "end of the world" mentioned 



42 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



in verses 40, 49 is, as the alternative translation in 
the margin of the R. V. shows, not the end of the 
physical earth but the consummation or completion 
of the world-age or dispensation. The Jews be- 
lieved that when the Messiah came to set up His 
kingdom it would mark the end of the present 
(evil) age (cf. Gal. 1:4; Rom. 12:2) and usher 
in the age to come. Even though Jesus' kingdom 
was not outward (cf. Luke 17: 20) and political, as 
the Jews expected it to be, He uses the common 
phraseology to designate the end of the period of 
His kingdom's struggle with evil and the time of 
its final triumph. 

Sixth Day. The Drag-net (Continued). 

1. The lesson of this parable is that the separa- 
tion of the righteous and wicked is certain. While 
the parable of the Wheat and Tares teaches that 
good and evil men must be left in the world, not to 
be separated by human judgment and violence, the 
parable of the Drag-net shows that they are not on 
that account to continue forever thus. 

2. The lesson of the two parables does not di- 
rectly concern the punishment of crime by civil so- 
ciety nor the exercise of discipline by religious so- 
cieties. Since in the one the field is the world and 
the tares are sons of wickedness, the question is of 
removing wicked men from the world by violence. 
In the other, the seine represents, not the church 
as an organization or collection of organizations, 
but the historic movement of the kingdom in the 
world. We have to look not merely at the charac- 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE KINGDOM 43 



ter of Christendom, but even at the bodies of pro- 
fessing Christians to see how mixed a company the 
movement has drawn in. There are those in the 
churches who are there merely because they were 
born of Christian parents or baptized in infancy, 
but who have never been born of the Spirit; those 
who make false profession for the sake of gain or 
social standing; men and women drawn by family 
or other social ties; men with loose morals and 
hidden sins, as well as true Christians. 

3. The parable warns us not to think we or any 
others shall share the blessings of the Kingdom of 
God because in some outward and formal way we 
are included among those drawn in by the move- 
ment of Christianity. It is not enough to live in 
Christendom and profess Christ's name. God will 
make a separation and only those who are good 
according to the standards of the kingdom will be 
saved (see Matt. 7:20-27; Luke 13:23-29; 1 Cor. 
3:10-15). 

4. On the method of God's judgment see John 
3 : 18-21 ; 5 : 22-24. 

5. Subsequent lessons show what are the char- 
acteristics of the "good," who are kept, and the 
"bad," who are rejected. 

Seventh Day. Review. 

1. Lesson III. presented the great possibilities 
of growth which the kingdom possesses when 
planted in the soil of humanity. The parables of 
this lesson show the limitations of that growth in 
actual experience. The kingdom must meet and 



44 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



overcome evil. The parable of the Sower shows 
the cause of and responsibility for the unequal 
growth of the kingdom in different people. That 
of the Wheat and Tares tells what attitude the pro- 
moters of the kingdom may not take toward evil 
men in their midst. The parable of the Drag-net 
shows that the separation of the evil from the good, 
not outwardly made nor by man, is made by God 
through His own means. 

2. Each of these parables should suggest candid 
self-examination. Are our attitudes to spiritual 
things, our habits, associations, reading and wor- 
ship such as to make us receptive soil for the truth 
of the gospel? Do we seek to overcome evil with 
good only? Can the progress of the kingdom be 
hastened by war, according to Jesus' teaching? 
Are we truly members of the kingdom or only iden- 
tified with Christianity in an outward and formal 
way? 

3. Read again the parables of the lesson. 



LESSON V 



CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE KING- 
DOM OF GOD 

First Day. The Hid Treasure and The Pearl of 
Great Price. Matt. 13 : 44-46. 

1. These two parables are grouped in Matthew 
with the parable of the Drag-net as spoken to the 
disciples in the house after His teaching by the sea. 
What has been said concerning the time when the 
latter parable was given, applies equally to these 
two. 

2. The story. The parable of the Hid Treasure 
presupposes the common habit in the East, where 
banks and safety vaults are unknown and wars and 
robberies frequent, of burying treasure for safe 
keeping. Frequently through the owner's death or 
departure such treasure was lost. When found, it 
belonged to the owner of the property on which it 
was discovered. 

The other parable takes account of the value 
attached to precious stones in ancient times, both 
because of their ornamental value and because they 
were a form of wealth easily carried or concealed. 
The merchant in the story is traveling, like Marco 
Polo's uncle and father, that he may buy up such 
precious stones. 

3. The central point of both parables is the same. 
In both cases when the man had found something 



46 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



of superlative value he gave up all he had in order 
to get possession of it. 

4. The treasure and pearl symbolize the King- 
dom of God. The finder of the treasure and the 
merchant represent those who come to know the 
kingdom as the supreme good. 

5. The lesson is that one must sacrifice all else 
that one has in order to obtain the Kingdom of God. 

Second Day. The Hid Treasure and The Pearl of 
Great Price (Continued). 

1. The parable of the Drag-net teaches that a 
discrimination is sure to be made between true and 
apparent members of the kingdom. The parables 
of this lesson show more in detail what true mem- 
bership involves in the attitude and character of 
the individual. 

2. The all-embracing condition of membership 
in the kingdom is complete consecration of one's 
self and all that one has. The kingdom has the 
supreme claim, and every interest not consistent 
with its character or subordinated to its purposes 
must be given up as the price of membership (see 
Matt. 6:24). 

3. The lesson is fully and plainly stated by 
Jesus in His teaching as to the conditions of dis- 
cipleship in Luke 14:25-35. 

4. The differences between the parables have to 
do with the different ways in which men find the 
kingdom. One comes to the knowledge of the gos- 
pel, like the man who stumbles upon the buried 
treasure, while pursuing other things. Others, like 



CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 47 



the merchant, are consciously seeking after God, 
and so find Him. In both cases the finder recog- 
nizes the supreme worth of the kingdom, and gives 
all to possess it (read Isaiah 65: 1; Matt. 7:7, 8). 

Third Day. The Ten Virgins. Matt. 25 : 1-13. 

1. This parable is given by Matthew as one of a 
group spoken by Jesus in connection with His 
teaching concerning the destruction of Jerusalem 
and the end of the age. The discourse was uttered 
to the disciples while He was sitting with them on 
the Mount of Olives looking back upon the city 
and temple they had left shortly before (see Matt. 
24:1-3). 

This group of parables enforces certain principles 
of conduct which, in view of the uncertainty as to 
the time of the crises and opportunities of the king- 
dom's history, are essential for full and blessed 
membership in it (see Matt. 24: 36, 42-51). 

2. The story presents a variation from the usual 
Jewish marriage customs. Where the bride and 
groom lived in the same village, it was customary 
for the bridegroom to go with the wedding proces- 
sion to the home of the bride and then return with 
her to his own or his father's house, where the 
wedding feast was held. This parable seems to 
assume that the bridegroom was to come from a 
distant village and that the wedding feast was to 
be held at the bride's home. The bridesmaids 
waited at the bride's home until the approach of 
the bridegroom was announced, when they went 



48 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



forth to meet him and return with him to the 
bride's home. 

The lamps carried consisted of an earthenware 
bowl for the olive oil, with a handle on one side 
and a spout or hole for the wick on the other side 
or on top. Sometimes the bowl was carried in a 
larger shallow receptacle. The wise virgins had 
brought their lamps with the bowls (vessels) filled 
and ready for use. The foolish had, either through 
thoughtlessness or the shiftless hope of borrowing 
of someone after arriving at the bride's house, neg- 
lected to put oil in their lamps. 

Fourth Day. The Ten Virgins (Continued). 

1. The central point of the story has been a 
matter of much difference of opinion. It seems 
fairly clear, however, from a careful study that the 
emphatic and central thought of the story is that the 
foolish virgins were excluded from the marriage 
feast because they had not made sufficient prepara- 
tion beforehand. The wise virgins, on the contrary, 
entered the feast because the coming of the bride- 
groom found them ready for their duty. 

2. The symbolism of the parable is clear, if we 
follow the example of Jesus as He explained the 
symbolism of the parables of the Sower and of the 
Tares and Wheat, and do not attempt to give a 
meaning to unimportant elements of the story. The 
bridegroom represents Christ, the ten bridesmaids 
represent those who are professedly and formally 
members of the kingdom ; the marriage feast is the 
consummation of the kingdom. 



CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 



49 



3. The lesson is that membership in the king- 
dom will be finally determined by the personal pre- 
paration made beforehand. The ten virgins all 
seemed equally prepared. They were properly 
dressed and had their lamps. But the foolish had 
brought no oil. When at the cry that the bride- 
groom was approaching they lighted their lamps, 
they found they would not burn, and it was too late 
to provide the necessary oil. 

Jesus' injunction to watch means, in this instance, 
not to be always idly looking out for some visible 
appearance of Christ — all the virgins wisely rested 
and slept while waiting — but to be inwardly and 
spiritually equipped for duty whenever the call 
comes. 

Christian character is something which cannot be 
borrowed in emergencies. One must really have 
acquired it beforehand in order to do Christian duty 
and pass the tests imposed by the crises and oppor- 
tunities presented in the course of the kingdom's 
fulfilment. Lack of it inevitably excludes from 
membership in the kingdom. 

4. Compare Jesus' parallel illustrations of the 
wise and foolish builders in Matt. 7 : 20-27. 

Fifth Day. The Talents. Matt. 25 : 14-30. 

1. This parable is assigned by Matthew to the 
same occasion as that of the Ten Virgins. To the 
lesson of preparedness as a condition of member- 
ship in the kingdom this parable adds that of faith- 
fulness in service. 

2. The story. The talent was equivalent to 



SO THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



about $1200. Each servant receives according to 
his ability to manage, so that each can hope to in- 
crease the amount received in the same proportion 
as the other servants, if all are equally faithful. It 
must have been no uncommon occurrence in Jesus' 
time for the Herods and other rich men leaving for 
Rome to leave their affairs in charge of servants. 

3. The central point of the story is to be sought 
in the motive of the conduct of the servants, as 
shown in the conversation and judgment of the mas- 
ter. The first two are equally commended and re- 
warded because they have been good and faithful. 
The third is condemned as a wicked and lazy ser- 
vant. It is often understood that he had not traded 
with the talent for fear he would lose it; but he 
himself says he feared his master, because he knew 
that whatever he gained his master would take up 
(verses 24, 25). He was unwilling to make money 
for his master — so unwilling that he had not even 
put the talent out to interest. He had treated the 
talent as he would a trust from a mere stranger, 
which he need only keep safe and return when it 
should be called for. A bad and idle servant, in- 
deed! The saying, "To him that hath, shall be 
given," etc. (verse 29), while expressing a great 
truth, is introduced here to justify the giving of the 
unused talent to the one with ten talents, and is in- 
cidental to the main teaching of the parable. 

4. Symbolism. The man represents Christ, 
who goes away at His death and returns for the 
reckoning at the Parousia (or as commonly trans- 
lated, His Coming). The servants are professed 



CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP 51 



followers of Jesus. The talents represent the truths 
of the gospel and the spiritual gifts conferred by 
Christ upon men. The casting into outer darkness 
is exclusion from the blessedness of the kingdom, 
from the "joy of the Lord." 

Sixth Day. The Talents (Continued). 

1. The lesson of the parable is that loyal and 
faithful service to Christ is a necessary condition 
for membership in the kingdom and for entering 
into its rewards (cf. the teaching of Matt. 7 : 16-23 ; 
24:45-51; 1 Cor. 4: 1-5). 

2. The parable of the Pounds (Luke 19 : 11-28) 
resembles that of the talents in some of its features 
so closely that it has been regarded as merely an- 
other account of it. The differences, however, are 
many and striking. Luke says Jesus spoke the 
parable of the Pounds on the way from Jericho to 
Jerusalem, because the disciples were expecting the 
kingdom shortly to appear. In it each of ten ser- 
vants receives the same amount — a mina or pound, 
worth about $20 — and their differing capacity shows 
in the varying increase of each. The master is a 
nobleman, such as Archelaus, going away to re- 
ceive a kingdom and come again. Some of his 
citizens are disloyal, protesting against his receiving 
the kingship, and being punished for their rebellion. 
Aside from this latter feature, however, the lesson 
of the parable is much the same as that of the 
Talents, the episode of the slothful servant who 
buried the money being given in almost the same 
words. 



52 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



3. The common features of the two parables do 
not deal with natural gifts, such as we often call 
"talents," but with the gifts of the kingdom con- 
ferred for service. We repeat the mistake of the 
unfaithful servant whenever we refuse to use them 
for God's glory or seek to use them only for our 
own joy or salvation. 

Seventh Day. Review. 

1. Read over the parables carefully. 

2. They teach that complete consecration, per- 
sonal preparation, and faithful service are necessary 
conditions of membership in the Kingdom of God. 

3. This teaching should suggest a careful self- 
examination to see whether we are "fit for the 
Kingdom of God." 

4. In these parables of Matt. 25 : 1-30 Jesus uses 
the language of Jewish Messianism, which ex- 
pected a definite judgment day and a visible king- 
dom as the end of the (then) present world-age 
and the ushering in of the Kingdom of God. He 
uses this language to cast the light of the king- 
dom's final triumph back upon the present life and 
duty of His disciples, to show what are the condi- 
tions of true and final participation in the kingdom. 
Since Jesus has spiritualized the conception of the 
kingdom, it seems better to take His language 
about His future coming and judgment at the con- 
summation of the age as expressing the spiritual 
fact of Jesus' triumph and revelation through His 
Spirit's presence and work in human life and 
historv. 



LESSON VI 



THE TREASURES OF THE KINGDOM 

First Day. The Rich Fool. Luke 12 : 13-21. 

1. The story. The decisive moment chosen in 
the wealthy landowner's life is when he discovered 
that the yield of his ground was extraordinary. He 
proposes to pull down his granaries, and build 
larger ones adequate to hold the crops. Instead of 
"soul" in verses 19, 20, it would be better to trans- 
late "life," as the margin suggests. This makes it 
agree better with verse 15. 

2. The occasion of the parable was the covetous 
request of one of the crowd that Jesus get his 
brother to divide an inheritance with him. Per- 
haps it was a younger brother, who took it ill that 
the older brother should have the legal "double 
portion" (Deut. 21:17). 

3. The central point of the parable is the folly 
of the man in thinking that his great wealth guar- 
anteed long and happy life. His death, coming on 
the very day of his confidence, is the solvent that 
makes the folly stand out clearly. 

4. The parable is not symbolic, but typical. It 
gives an instance of the foolish belief that life 
springs from and consists in the abundance of one's 
possessions. 

5. The lesson of the parable is given by Jesus 
in verses 15, 21. Since human life is in essence 
spiritual, it cannot consist of, nor spring from, an 



54 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



accumulation of material possessions, however 
abundant. Nothing shows this fact like death, 
which strips from a man the material accumulation 
and leaves only the life "that is rich toward God." 
6. Read and ponder carefully Mark 10 : 17-27. 

Second Day. The Rich Fool (Continued). 

1. Following the parable and applying its lesson 
of the need of being rich toward God, Jesus gives 
a discourse (Luke 12:22-34) on the proper atti- 
tude toward the material and physical needs of life. 
Food, drink and clothing are necessary to life. The 
material means which secure them are to be re- 
garded as subsidiary goods ; but the righteousness 
of the Kingdom of God is the supreme good, which 
must be put first (Luke 12:30, 31; Matt. 6:33). 
Just as the body is of more importance than its 
clothing, so the life is of more value than food. 
Just because material possessions can only minister 
directly to what is secondary in man's life, it is 
foolish to make the gathering of them the supreme 
aim of life. 

2. To lay up treasures in heaven (Luke 12 : 33 ; 
Matt. 6:19) and to be rich toward God mean to 
enlarge the spiritual life with the virtues, graces 
and activities that characterize God and His king- 
dom. To multiply unselfish friendships, to learn 
the secret of peace, to love the fellowship and com- 
munion of God, to grow tender in sympathy and in 
steadiness of faith and hope, to delight in nature as 
God's studio, and enlarge one's sphere of religious 
obligation — this it is to become "rich toward God." 



THE TREASURES OF THE KINGDOM 



55 



3. Read Mark 10 : 21, 28-31. In contrast with 
the folly of the rich fool, note the wisdom of Paul's 
words in 2 Cor. 4: 16-18. - 

Third Day. The Rich Man and Lazarus. Luke 
16: 19-31. 

1. The details of the first part of the story are 
such as to enhance our sense of the luxurious life 
of the rich man (cf. Esther 8:15). The purple 
was very costly woolen cloth dyed with the expen- 
sive dye made from the Tyrian shell-fish. Because 
of its cost, it was usually worn only by kings. The 
fine linen was the white Egyptian byssus. It was 
required that the priests' garments be made of it. 
Lazarus is presented as a foil to the rich man. The 
character of the rich man's life is still further 
brought out by contrast with the diseased and help- 
less beggar lying at his gate, coveting even the 
scraps thrown away by the rich man, and instead of 
finding compassion, being left helpless to the dogs. 
The name Lazarus must be regarded as significant, 
since Jesus has taken pains, contrary to His usual 
custom, to give this character a name. It seems to 
mean "God is the help," and probably was intended 
to express his religious character, so as to prepare 
us for his place in the second part of the parable. 

2. The second part belongs to the parable as a 
story rather than to its teaching. To quote the apt 
words of Principal Stewart: "Christ took the 
features of His narrative from the beliefs and tra- 
ditions of His time and doing so neither invests 



56 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



them with authority nor stops to disprove them. 
His purpose is far otherwise. It would be strange 
indeed if the dreams of Jewish rabbis had succeeded 
in deciphering the relations, localities and conditions 
of the world of spirits. But this they would have 
done had our Lord in adopting their teachings as 
the framework of His story meant to certify their 
accuracy. It would have been strange indeed had 
Jesus, intending to reveal to men the hidden secrets, 
done so in so casual a manner. By using in regard 
to these things the current language of His day, He 
at once made Himself intelligible to those whom He 
addressed, and rebuked the restless spirit which 
would have overlooked the lessons He taught in the 
attempt to gratify a vain curiosity regarding the 
things which God keeps in His own hands" (Para- 
bles of Jesus, by various authors, pp. 438, 439). 

The Jewish rabbis taught that the abode of the 
departed, called Sheol or Hades, was divided into 
two regions — Paradise, the abode of the righteous, 
and Gehenna, the place of torment (see Matt. 10: 
28, marg.; Luke 23 : 43). The two divisions, though 
separated by an impassable wall, fence or abyss, 
were in full view from each other and conversation 
between their denizens was possible. The righteous 
in Paradise were represented as holding a perpetual 
feast. A place of highest honor at a Jewish table 
was to recline next the host, so as to "lean upon his 
bosom" (see John 13:23). "To lean upon Abra- 
ham's bosom at the celestial banquet was in the Jew- 
ish eyes the crowning felicity of Paradise" (cf. 
Luke 14: 15 ; 13 : 28, 29). "Neither feast nor flame 



THE TREASURES OF THE KINGDOM 57 



can therefore be taken as throwing light on the 
physical conditions of the other world. So far as 
the parable is concerned they are representative and 
symbolic. But the spiritual realities to which they 
correspond are thereby only the more boldly and 
vividly impressed upon us." — Principal Stewart. 

Fourth Day. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Con- 
tinued) . 

1. Luke's grouping of the parables in chapter 16 
seems to indicate that this parable belongs to the 
same general occasion as the parable of the Un- 
righteous Steward. If so, it may have been called 
out by the Pharisees' mockery expressed in verses 
14, 15, notwithstanding the teaching on another 
subject that intervenes in verses 16-18. Jesus gives 
no comment or interpretation. 

2. In seeking the central point of the story, we 
must find something that takes the whole parable 
into account. If the mere reversal of conditions 
were the central point the story should stop with 
verse 25. If the central point were the impassable 
gulf between the righteous and wicked in the next 
life, the story need not go beyond verse 26. The 
central point is to be found in verse 31, which gives 
the reason both for the manner of the rich man's 
life before death and his torment afterward. 

3. The parable is typical, not symbolic. It gives 
a case of the poverty and torment of soul which 
come of using wealth to cultivate the physical life 
and sensual appetites only. 

4. The lesson of the parable is well expressed 



58 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



in the words of 1 John 2 : 16, 17 ; 1 Tim. 5:6; Luke 
12 : 21. It has to do in both aspects of it with this 
life. The rich man's real life, his soul, was starved 
and shriveled. Apart from the flesh, he had no pos- 
sibilities of happiness, no life. He lived in the flesh 
and found only torment aside from it. Death is in- 
troduced here because it is the needed solvent. It 
strips off to our imagination the mask of purple- 
robed flesh in one case and of ragged sores in the 
other and lets us see the real man's impossibilities 
of happiness, his poverty toward God. 

5. The answer of Abraham (verse 25) to the 
rich man's request simply calls his attention to the 
logical working out of his own previous choices. 
When Lazarus lay at his gate, he did not trouble 
himself to assuage Lazarus' hunger or pain. He 
took his good things and left Lazarus to his evil lot. 
Lazarus was his opportunity to have developed a 
soul and to have had spiritual help. But having 
made his choice, he must abide by it. The "impas- 
sable gulf" belongs to the framework of rabbinic 
ideas. It is mentioned to emphasize how impossible 
it is for the rich man to be relieved of the conse- 
quences of his selfish sensuality and to prepare for 
his request that Lazarus be sent to his brethren. 

6. The fundamental fault of the rich man is 
brought out in verses 27-31. The rich man's re- 
quest for his brethren was made to justify himself. 
He intimated that if he had been warned of the tor- 
ment awaiting him, he would have acted otherwise. 
The very selfishness that led him to sensual pleas- 
ure might have led him to a temporary self-denial 



THE TREASURES OF THE KINGDOM 59 



on earth that he might escape eternal torment, if he 
had been sure that such torment was otherwise in- 
evitable. But he would not have been made to love 
God and man more by such a message, even if he 
had found it believable. He had Moses and the 
prophets ; but his selfishness made him deaf to such 
appeals as Micah 6:8; Lev. 19 : 18 ; Deut. 15 : 7, 8. 
They offered no bliss he could appreciate. 

7. Salvation must be a matter of character. 
Revelations of the future even by one returning 
from the dead would not save men unless they led 
to changed character. Moses and the prophets say 
little or nothing of the future world. But they do 
warn against covetousness, sensuality and all selfish- 
ness. They call us to the love of God and man. 
Unless we can hear and heed such messages, we 
cannot escape spiritual suffering and death. 

Fifth Day. The Unrighteous Steward. Luke 16 : 
1-9. 

1. The story. The steward in the parable is an 
agent who had charge of the rich man's property. 
He rented his farms and collected the rents, which 
in this case were paid in products of the farms. 
When accused to his employer and called to ac- 
count for wastefulness — whether on account of in- 
competence, carelessness, or dishonesty is not told — 
he resorts to the dishonest but shrewd device of 
using the property the little time it was yet in his 
charge to make friends of his master's debtors, so 
that when he lost his position they would care for 
his needs. It was the shrewdness of the device that 



60 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



elicited his master's admiration. The parable would 
be better named "the wise steward." He was an 
"unrighteous steward," but that is not the trait 
which the parable emphasizes (see verse 8, R. V. 
only). The phrase, "mammon of unrighteousness," 
seems to have been a common phrase for wealth. 
Among the Jews rich men were usually thought to 
be of necessity wicked. "Mammon" is simply the 
Aramaic word for money. 

2. The context sheds no sure light on the occa- 
sion of the parable. We cannot be sure that this 
parable follows the group in Luke 15. It was 
spoken to the disciples (16 : 1). The parable really 
ends with 16:9, but verses 10-13 may have been 
uttered in connection with it. If so, verse 14 indi- 
cates that it was given in the hearing of the Phari- 
sees. Jesus gives the practical lesson in verse 9. 

3. The central thought of the parable is the wis- 
dom of the steward in converting the money he 
must soon lose control of into friendship that would 
still serve his needs when the money could not do so. 

Sixth Day. The Unrighteous Steward (Con- 
tinued). 

1. This parable is a typical one. The point in 
it that is typical is the wisdom with which the stew- 
ard used the wealth while in his control. There is 
a strong tendency to regard it as a symbolic para- 
ble, but the fact that wealth must be the same both 
in the parable and in the interpretation, and that the 
steward's action was dishonest, prevents its being 
regarded as symbolic. 



THE TREASURES OF THE KINGDOM 61 

2. The lesson of the parable is that the wise way 
to use material wealth is to gain spiritual riches by 
means of it. All the material wealth that is used to 
gain friends human or divine, or to enrich one's 
mind and soul, will continue to help us after ma- 
terial things fail us, whether through calamity, dis- 
ease, old age or death (see verse 9). 

Seventh Day. Review. 

1. Read over the preceding days' studies. 

2. Does the following statement express Jesus' 
teaching as to the right use of material wealth? 
True life and weal do not consist in one's material 
possessions nor depend on them. True life is deeper 
and more abiding than the flesh and its appetites. 
Yet material wealth and the body may be so used 
as to enrich the life permanently and may, by the 
alchemy of consecration to spiritual uses, be con- 
verted into the treasures of the Kingdom of God. 

3. In what ways may we "lay up treasures in 
the kingdom of heaven"? 



LESSON VII 



THE SOCIAL MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP IN 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD 

First Day. The Unforgiving Servant. Matt. 18: 
21-35. 

1. The story. The word servant here means 
"officer" rather than "slave." The one who owed 
ten thousand talents could hardly have been other 
than the king's treasurer. A talent was equal to 
about six thousand denarii. The former was worth 
about twelve hundred dollars and the latter a little 
more than fifteen cents. The debt of one was about 
twelve million dollars and of the other about fifteen 
dollars. 

2. The occasion of the parable was Jesus' dis- 
course to the disciples on humility and forgiveness 
(Matt. 18 : 1-20). This led Peter to ask Jesus how 
often one should forgive a repentant offender. 
Jesus' reply, "until seventy times seven," means 
that the obligation to forgive, when the offender 
repents (cf. Matt. 18:21; Luke 17:3), is unlim- 
ited. It is to show why this is true that Jesus gives 
the parable. In verse 35 Jesus gives the application 
of its lesson. 

3. The central point to the story is that the ser- 
vant who was debtor forfeited the king's grace by 
being unmerciful to a fellow servant who was a 
debtor to himself. 

4. In the symbolism of the parable, the king 
represents God; the servant who owed the king 



THE SOCIAL MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP 63 



represents a sinful man ; the debt of twelve million 
dollars is his duty which he has not performed ; the 
fellow servant is a man who has wronged the other 
and his debt of fifteen dollars represents the wrong 
done. The other details belong to the framework 
of the parable and need not be forced to a definite 
meaning in the interpretation. 

Second Day. The Unforgiving Servant (Con- 
tinued) . 

1. For the lesson of the parable read the follow- 
ing passages: Matt. 18:35; 6:14, 15; Mark 11: 
25; Matt. 5:23, 24; Col. 3:13. 

2. The king in the parable forgave the servant's 
great debt when the servant seemed repentant of 
his wrong. But his treatment of his fellow servant 
showed that he had not been touched and trans- 
formed by the king's grace. He had not felt the 
beauty of loving mercy. He was the same selfish 
and mean man who had embezzled the king's funds. 
His apparent contrition was only sorrow at having 
to suffer the consequences of his sin, not sorrow at 
having betrayed his master's trust. He had taken 
the king's mercy as a bit of good fortune that en- 
abled him to enjoy the fruit of his sin without its 
penalties and he continued his career of selfishness 
by trying to collect all debts due him regardless of 
his debtor's feelings or needs. This action showed 
the king that he was not changed but was at heart 
the same man who had abused his trust; conse- 
quently the king revoked the decree of mercy of 
which the servant had proven unworthy. God does 



64 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



not have to wait in order to learn the state of our 
hearts by our acts to see whether His love begets 
repentant love in us; so the lesson is not that God 
will take back His forgiveness from those who 
show themselves unmerciful, but that He does not 
forgive until brotherly love has been begotten of 
His grace in us (1 John 4:7). This love is involved 
in true repentance. 

3. Read Dods, The Parables of Jesus, pp. 129, 
130 ; and G. A. Smith, Expositor's Bible, Isaiah 
40-66, pp. 465-467. 

4. Why does this spirit of forgiving one another 
have so little place in our songs, sermons and lives, 
while we make so much of God's forgiving grace? 
Is it because we are like the unmerciful servant? 

Third Day. The Good Samaritan. Luke 10: 
25-37. 

1. The story. The enmity between Jews and 
Samaritans was more active than between Jews and 
Gentiles. They had so much in common and lived 
so close to each other that their differences irritated 
each other more (see John 4:9). The priests and 
Levites, ministers of the temple worship, belonged 
to the "holiest classes" of Jews. The inn was 
usually an enclosed place where travelers might 
find protection and shelter for the night — a cara- 
vansarai or khan. Often, as in the one mentioned 
in the story, a man would live there to feed and 
care for travelers who were willing to pay for such 
accommodation. The two pence or shillings were 
two denarii. 



THE SOCIAL MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP 65 

2. The occasion of the parable was the question 
which a lawyer or teacher of the Mosaic law put 
to Jesus in the hope of entrapping Him. The con- 
versation is not given in full, but Jesus seems to 
have led him to state the substance of the law in 
the passages that He Himself used for that purpose 
(Matt. 22 : 34-40). When told that if he would do 
this he should have eternal life, the lawyer asked 
who his neighbor was, in order to justify himself — 
either for appearing to have asked his first question 
needlessly, or for limiting neighborly love to a very 
narrow circle. Among the Jews the term neighbor 
commonly meant a fellow Jew. In Lev. 19 : 13-18, 
it is parallel with "brother" and "son of thy people." 
In Matt. 5:43-47, "neighbor" is contrasted with 
"enemy," which plainly means "foreigner" — Gen- 
tile, Roman persecutor or publican. Among the 
Pharisees the term "neighbor" had been still more 
restricted to mean a fellow member of the Phari- 
saic order; somewhat as to-day "brother" often 
means member of the same lodge or order. Jesus 
gives the practical lesson of the parable in verse 37. 

Fourth Day. The Good Samaritan (Continued). 

L The parable is of the typical class. Jesus an- 
swers the lawyer's question by giving a case of true 
neighborliness. The point to the story lies in the 
fact that none upon whom the needy man had any 
claims rendered him assistance, and that the 
Samaritan who did help him had no obligation but 
that imposed by mere human need. His fellow 



66 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



countrymen rob and beat him; the ministers of his 
religion pass by on the other side, while the 
Samaritan is a hated foreigner. Notice how the 
whole group are thrown together by the accidents 
of travel as shown by the words, "fell," "by 
chance," "in like manner," "as he journeyed." 
None of the conventional motives to kindness is 
present — neither proximity of dwelling, nor com- 
munity of race, country or creed. The Samaritan 
was neighbor to him because he felt a neighbor's 
love for the man as a man. 

2. Jesus makes the obligation of neighborly love 
include all men. A man because he is a man has a 
neighbor's claim to every other man's unselfish love. 
How the petty barriers and distinctions by which 
we excuse ourselves — whether Jew, Greek or 
American — from loving and helping men of other 
races, countries, communities, organizations and re- 
ligions, as we do "our own people" and ourselves, 
fade away before this human neighborhood of 
Jesus ! 

3. Compare carefully Paul's teaching in Acts 
17:26, 27; and Jesus' teaching in Matt. 5:43-47. 
Notice how both ground this universal neighbor- 
hood in the fact that we are all children of one 
Father, whose care is impartially given to all. 

4. Read the sermon on "The Good Samaritan" 
in The Forgiveness of Sins, by G. A. Smith. 

Fifth Day. The King's Judgment. Matt. 25: 
31-46. 

1. This passage is quite commonly taken as a 



THE SOCIAL MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP 67 



literal prediction rather than as a parable. A few- 
call it the parable of "the sheep and goats," but 
this is to name it after an incidental illustration in 
it. The story is about the king's judgment. Against 
its being a parable may be urged that it lacks the 
usual introductory formula, and that it is in form a 
narrative of a future event. In favor of its being 
a parable, it may be said that many parables lack an 
introductory formula (see Matt. 13:3; 21:28; 
Luke 15:11; 16:1, 19) and that the story occurs 
here in a group of parables intended to throw the 
light of the future consummation of the kingdom 
on present duty. The framework is drawn, like the 
latter part of the story of the rich man and Lazarus, 
and like the illustration in Matt. 12:44, 45 (which 
Edersheim considers a parable), from the specula- 
tions of the rabbis about the spiritual world. Such 
pictures of judgment scenes are common enough in 
Jewish literature of New Testament times. The 
new and original element in the story is the basis of 
the judgment. I shall treat it as a parable; doing 
so with greater assurance, because the important 
lesson of it is just the same whether it is regarded 
as a parable or as a prediction of literal occurrences. 

2. This parable belongs with the Ten Virgins 
and Talents to the group attached to Jesus' dis- 
course in which He seeks to shed the light of the 
kingdom's consummation upon present duty; and 
to show what are the conditions of membership in 
the kingdom. The parable of the Virgins empha- 
sized personal preparation as a prerequisite for ad- 
mission; that of the Talents called attention to the 



68 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



necessity of faithful service to Christ; and this 
shows that such loyal service consists in ministering 
to human need. 

Sixth Day. The King's Judgment (Continued). 

1. The central point of the story is that men's 
fate in the judgment was determined by their atti- 
tude to their fellow men. 

2. The parable must be regarded as symbolic. 
The outward elements of the story (just as the 
similar things in Rev. 21, 22), the king in his 
splendor, the throne, the concourse of all nations, 
and the dialogue are not mentioned to give us a 
literal description of future occurrences, but to 
represent the triumphant rule of Jesus over the 
spirits of men, His spiritual presence and kingdom 
reaching all nations, the division of men into those 
who are led by His spirit of love and those who do 
not yield to it; the exclusion from His kingdom of 
all who do not yield to Him and cooperate with 
Him in His work of helping and redeeming men. 
(Cf . Gal. 5 : 22, 23 ; John 3 : 18-21 ; 5 : 24 ; 1 John 
3 : 14-18, where the same truths are stated without 
the conventional symbolism of Jewish Messianism.) 

3. The lesson of the parable is that the Kingdom 
of God is a kingdom of love, and only those who 
live lives of altruistic self-denial belong to it. To 
love God is to love men and to serve God is to serve 
men. How often this truth is emphasized by Jesus 
and the apostles ! (Read Matt. 22 : 37-39 ; John 13 : 
35; 1 John 4:20, 21.) 



THE SOCIAL MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP 69 

4. Leigh Hunt's poem, Ahou ben Adhem, is 
another parable expressing the same truth. 

5. In the complications of modern life we may 
best minister to Christ's needs in the practice of our 
profession. We recognize easily that the minister 
and teacher and the physician must use their pro- 
fession to minister to men's needs, and we regard 
them as unworthy if they make their own selfish 
ends the chief purpose of their profession. But the 
grocer who makes it his business first of all to feed 
as best he can Christ's hungry brethren is truly 
serving Christ. (He ought to get a living from it, 
to be sure, just as a minister must "live of the gos- 
pel.") So the director of a water company ought 
to use his position to give drink to the thirsty 
Christ ; the clothier, to clothe Him ; the physician, to 
heal Him ; and the lawyer, to release Him from un- 
just imprisonment. 

Seventh Day. Review. 

1. Read again the parables of the lesson. One 
shows the source in God's grace of Christian 
brotherly love; the second shows its universal ex- 
tent; and the third shows its result in determining 
destiny. To belong to the Kingdom of God is to 
love all men with the same kind of forgiving, re- 
deeming mercy which God shows to us. 

2. How small a place is given to this test of 
Christianity in most of the standards and tests by 
which we measure our own and others' religion! 
Sometimes creeds, confessions, rites and experi- 
ences are considered proof of discipleship, when 



70 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



love is wanting. And frequently in the absence of 
other and outward tests how loath we are to accept 
Christlike love as proof that men have been begot- 
ten of God and have passed from death unto life! 
(John 13:35; 1 John 3:14.) 

3. Make a list of the un-Christian things of 
Christendom which would pass away, if the forgiv- 
ing spirit, universal brotherliness and religion of 
human service taught in these parables were really 
present — such as personal quarrels; factions and 
schisms in the church; neighborhood feuds; wars, 
trade reprisals between nations, race riots and ha- 
treds; selfishness in business, unrelieved poverty, 
destitution and disease, filthy jails, etc. 



LESSON VIII 



PETITIONING THE KING 

First Day. The Pharisee and the Publican. Luke 
18 : 9-14. 

1. The story. The name Pharisee means "sepa- 
rated." The Pharisees were a sect or order who de- 
voted themselves to the study and observance of 
the oral and written law. They are generally de- 
scribed as formally though not inwardly righteous, 
as proud, self-satisfied and hypocritical (see Matt. 
5:20; 6:1-18; 23:1-35; Mark 7:1-13; John 7: 
45-49). The publicans were collectors of customs. 
The customs were farmed out, the highest bidder 
receiving the privilege of collecting the duties for a 
district or at a port of entry. Both because the 
publicans represented the hated Roman power and 
because of their great opportunity to practice ex- 
tortion, they were despised and ostracized by the 
Jews (see Luke 3:12, 13; Mark 2:13-17; Luke 
19:1-10; Matt. 21:32). 

It was common for Jews to go to pray in the 
temple courts at the time of the morning and even- 
ing sacrifices (Luke 1 : 10 ; Acts 3:1). 

2. The parable was spoken, if Luke's order is 
chronological, toward the end of Jesus' Perean 
ministry. It was intended as a lesson for the 
Pharisees, as verses 9 and 14 show. 

3. It is a typical parable, giving a case of the 
wrong kind of prayer and one of the right kind. 



72 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



The central point is that the sinful publican re- 
ceived a blessing because he asked for one; while 
the Pharisee, though a much better man, did not go 
to his house justified because he had not really 
prayed. He came to ask God neither for righteous- 
ness nor strength nor guidance. He had all he 
wanted, and simply came to tell God that he was 
perfect and needed nothing more ; and perhaps pri- 
marily to let people see how devout he was, though 
this latter is not expressed in the parable. 

4. The parable teaches that the proper spirit of 
prayer is the spirit of humble, penitent desire to be 
made better. It is very accurately expressed in 
Matt. 5 : 3, 4, 6. 

Second Day. The Pharisee and the Publican (Con- 
tinued). 

1. Jesus insists constantly in His teachings that 
humility, hunger of soul, a sense of imperfection 
and aspiration after the highest are necessary before 
God can bless one of us with the blessings of His 
kingdom (see Matt. 18: 3, 4; Mark 10: 13-16). 

2. Jesus never rated men by their actual attain- 
ments so much as by their faith, the direction of 
their faces, the character of their ideals, and the 
energy of their efforts. The repentant prodigal was 
not as good in actual deeds and character as his 
elder brother, but he had greater promise. The 
publican had greater prospects for attaining the 
higher righteousness than the Pharisee, though the 
Pharisee was virtuous and the publican a sinner. 
The publican wanted to be better, felt his sinful- 



PETITIONING THE KING 



73 



ness, mourned over it, prayed for mercy, and was 
satisfied because he hungered for righteousness. 
The Pharisee in his self-satisfaction could go no 
further. The one thing hopeless to Jesus was 
"ossification of heart." 

3. As an example of the aspiration that under- 
lies all true communion with God, read 1 Cor. 2:9; 
Phil. 3 : 7-14. 

Third Day. The Friend at Midnight. Luke 11 : 
5-13. 

1. The story is not given as a narrative of fact, 
but as a hypothetical case depending for its result 
on common traits of human nature. The obliga- 
tion of hospitality among the Jews would require 
arousing a friend at midnight if that were the only 
way to get bread to give the belated traveler. The 
"loaves" are not to be thought of as modern baker's 
loaves. They were round, flat cakes and rather 
hard. The doors to eastern houses were often pon- 
derous, made of stone or timber, with heavy hinges 
and bars. It would be a task to open one. 

2. The occasion of the parable was, according 
to Luke's order, a request from some of Jesus' dis- 
ciples that He teach them to pray as the Baptist had 
taught his disciples. Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer 
in response and then added the parable (Luke 11: 
1-4). The most likely time known in Jesus' minis- 
try for this event is just after the events recorded 
in Mark 1 : 16-38. 

In the verses that follow the parable (Luke 11 : 
9-13), Jesus comments on the lesson of it. 



74 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



3. The central point of the story is given in 
verse 8. 

4. The parable gives a typical instance of suc- 
cessful prayer. The case is typical only in the one 
point of the importunity of the petitioner which re- 
sults in the granting of his request. To press it 
beyond that point or to interpret it as a symbolic 
parable would ascribe an unworthy motive to God 
in granting men's prayers. 

Fourth Day. The Friend at Midnight (Con- 
tinued). 

1. The lesson of the parable is that men should 
be persevering and earnest in prayer. 

2. The reason why perseverance leads to suc- 
cess will not be the same with God as with the 
friend. The argument is the a fortiori so often 
used by Jesus. If one can by persistence secure 
what he wants from an unwilling friend at mid- 
night, how much more shall we persist in asking 
for what we need from One who is our Father? 
(11:11-13.) 

3. The character of the petitions should be noted 
as a limitation in Jesus' own thought as to the uni- 
versal efficacy of persistent prayer. The Lord's 
Prayer contains petitions only for things that are 
morally right and according to God's loving provi- 
dence and His will for our spiritual and physical 
welfare. In the parable itself the request is not for 
the petitioner's self, but for a needy friend. It is 
the justice and unselfishness of it that gives his im- 
portunity its power. In the illustration that follows, 



PETITIONING THE KING 



75 



the son's requests of the father are all for food the 
son needs and which his father is under obligation 
to provide (verses 11, 12). The final argument ex- 
tends only to God's willingness to give the Holy 
Spirit (verse 13). Matthew in the parallel passage 
has "good things" (Matt. 7: 7-11). 

4. If we are asking for anything according to 
His will, we should persevere in confidence. God 
is not less influenced by our needs and welfare than 
men are. 

Fifth Day. The Unrighteous Judge. Luke 18 : 
1-8. 

1. The story. The law required that judges 
should be appointed in every city (Deut. 16 : 18-20). 
This one is represented as lacking those qualifica- 
tions which the law required. The widow had no 
husband to avenge her or to compel respect from 
the judge and had no money to bribe him. Her 
perseverance is such that the judge pretends to fear 
that she will finally assault him. The word trans- 
lated "wear me out" means to "beat black and blue," 
"to bruise," "to assault." 

2. The occasion of the parable was the dis- 
course on the coming of the kingdom and "the day 
of the Son of man" given in 17 : 20-37, in which 
Jesus describes the universal triumph of the Christ 
and the judgment that accompanies it. But the 
judgment of evil and reward of the righteous often 
seem not only delayed but forgotten of God. The 
parable is for those who may be tempted to aban- 



76 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



don the prayer, "Thy kingdom come" (18:1, 8). 
Jesus Himself states the lesson in verses 6-8. 

3. The central point of the story is given in 
verses 4, 5. Like the parable of the Friend at Mid- 
night, this is a typical parable presenting a case 
where prayer avails through sheer importunity. 
The woman had no other means of appealing to the 
judge; her case seemed hopeless; but she won with 
the simple weapon of an earnestness that refused 
to be denied. 

4. The lesson is the same as that of the preced- 
ing parable, but it is given a special application. It 
is for the coming of Christ's kingdom, for deliver- 
ance from evil, and for the reward of righteousness 
that we are taught to pray and not become discour- 
aged at long delay (verses 7, 8; cf. Rev. 6: 9-11). 

Sixth Day. The Unrighteous Judge (Continued). 

1. Jesus' application of the parable (verses 6, 7) 
expressly forbids any attempt to make this a sym- 
bolic parable and consider the judge as representing 
God. The lesson is to be found in the spirit of the 
petitioner. Jesus expressly contrasts God with the 
judge in respect to their character and motives. 
The argument is the a fortiori again. If sheer per- 
sistence could move such a wicked man to listen to 
a prayer for deliverance from injustice, how much 
more will God, our wise and loving Father, hear 
the continual prayer of His chosen people for de- 
liverance, even though He be long-suffering toward 
their oppressors? (Cf. Rom. 2:4-11.) 

2. We are apt to become impatient and dis- 



PETITIONING THE KING 



77 



couraged at the slowness of the world's progress, 
especially when our hearts are hot with hate of in- 
justice or we are enamored of the vision of a right- 
eous world to be. Jesus would encourage us to 
pray and persevere by this illustration of how far 
such an attitude will carry even with a human judge 
lacking all the characteristics to which our prayer 
must appeal in God. He would strengthen our 
hands with a hope born of experience with men 
and nourished on trust in God. 

3. The persons to whom Jesus addressed the 
parable (18:1) might well have made Psalms 42, 
43 the expression of their feelings, when the para- 
ble had taught its lesson. 

Seventh Day. Review. 

1. As the last lesson dealt with the social rela- 
tions of members of the kingdom, this deals with 
their relation to God. 

2. Humility, trust and steadfastness are the ele- 
ments that bring us into vital relations to God, so 
that He can bless us, work out His purposes through 
us and harmonize our wills to His. 

3. It is well to review here the teaching of 
Jesus in regard to prayer. It is best expressed in 
the following passages outside of those treated in 
this lesson (Matt. 6:5-15; Mark 11:22-25; Matt. 
18:19, 20; John 15:16; 16:23, 24; Mark 14: 
35, 36). These passages teach that God knows 
and provides for the needs of all His creatures ; He 
does not need that we tell Him these. Prayer is 
neither to give Him information nor to render Him 



78 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



willing by flattery or persuasion to grant our re- 
quests. He is eager to give good gifts to those that 
ask Him ; to give the Holy Spirit most of all. Faith 
in Him as our Infinite Father, surpassing even our- 
selves in love and wisdom, must be the basis of all 
genuine prayer. There is no thought that He will 
do what is evil or harmful at our request, however 
urgent. It is always to those gathered in Christ's 
name or praying according to God's will that 
promises of granted requests are made. 

Requests that are answered by a refusal enable us 
to know what is best in God's eyes and help us to 
understand His will. Constant communion binds 
us in fellowship to God ; prayer for our daily needs 
and thanks for His common blessings knit us to the 
Father's heart in love and gratitude. In hours of 
trial and temptation we find with Him in prayer 
strength to aid us and we seek there to discipline 
our wills to harmony with His own. 

For attaining all this we must pray humbly and 
receptively with the constancy and fervency of 
great hunger for righteousness and great love and 
faith toward God. 



LESSON IX 



UNFIT FOR THE KINGDOM 

First Day. The Two Sons. Matt. 21 : 28-32. 

1. The story is so simple and turns on differ- 
ences of disposition so common in all ages that it 
needs no comment or elucidation. 

2. The parable is one of the three parables of 
warning spoken by Jesus to the Jewish leaders on 
Tuesday of Passion Week. The leaders were en- 
deavoring to alienate the crowds from Jesus so that 
they might arrest Him without precipitating a riot 
(Matt. 26:4, 5). They had asked Him for His 
authority as a teacher, hoping that the crowds would 
leave Him when they learned that Jesus was not a 
recognized or authorized rabbi (Matt. 21:23-27). 
Jesus thwarted their purpose by asking whether 
John the Baptist taught by divine authority or sim- 
ply as a man. This put them in a dilemma where 
they could not answer either way without bringing 
themselves instead of Jesus into disfavor with the 
multitude (21:25-27). On their confession that 
they did not know the source of John's teaching, 
Jesus uttered the parable. 

An application of the lesson of the parable is 
made by Jesus Himself in verses 31, 32. 

3. The central point of the parable lies in the 
contrast between the words and deeds of the two 
sons. The one who refused in words actually did 
what his father wanted. 

4. The first son represents the ostentatiously 



80 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



righteous leaders of Judaism, particularly the 
Pharisees. The second son represents the outcasts 
and sinners. The father stands for God and the 
vineyard for His kingdom. 

5. The lesson is concisely stated in verse 31b. 

Second Day. The Two Sons (Continued). 

1. The immediate application of the parable was 
to the two classes into which the Jewish people had 
come to be divided on the basis of keeping the law. 
The Pharisees and other members of the theocracy 
were loud and persistent in their profession of keep- 
ing God's commandments. Another class — pub- 
licans, harlots, sinners — openly made no claim to 
doing what the law commanded. Then came the 
preaching of John calling men to walk in the way 
of righteousness and a curious reversal of judg- 
ment followed. The sinners repented of their sins 
and made preparation of heart to enter the king- 
dom of righteousness, and the self-righteous leaders 
stood aloof. 

2. The difference between profession and deeds, 
when a call comes to go at once (to-day) into the 
work of God, is not confined to the case to which 
Jesus applies it (read Matt. 15:8, 9; 7:15-23). 
How often we find men who make full confession of 
Christ and profession of righteousness who are 
strangely wanting in every call to do something 
difficult in the work of God, who do not lead in 
efforts of reform, benevolence, or practical right- 
eousness ! On the other hand many a wild, uncon- 
ventional, reckless character, blunt and outspoken 



UNFIT FOR THE KINGDOM 



81 



against conventional religion, is found in the crisis 
doing the work of Christ when others stand aloof. 
We ought to avoid the faults of both classes, but in 
any case we must remember that the essential thing 
is to do God's will. 

Third Day. The Unprofitable Servant. Luke 17: 
7-10. 

1. The story speaks of a farmer and a slave 
whom he owns. The slave is bound to do whatever 
his master commands and his owner has him do 
both the farm work and that of a body servant. 

2. Sometimes the parable is held to be connected 
with the preceding discourse on faith, but most 
scholars regard it as having no connection. Jesus 
gives an application of the parable to His disciples 
in verse 10. 

3. The central point of the story lies in the fact 
that the master does not regard the slave's obedi- 
ence as grounds for gratitude or thanks. According 
to the circle of ideas within which the parable moves 
thanks would be expected or given only for some 
gratuitous or unexpected service over and above 
what was commanded or otherwise due. With 
Oriental hyperbole, the slave who had only obeyed 
orders would call himself a "good-for-nothing 
slave." 

4. The parable is a typical one, illustrating the 
difference between the service that is mere slavish 
obedience to commands and the service that through 
willingness of spirit and the eagerness of love wins 
gratitude by exceeding the letter of the law. 



82 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



Fourth Day. The Unprofitable Servant (Con- 
tinued). 

1. The parable is intended to call attention to the 
difference between the religion of legalism and that 
of Christ. The Pharisee expected to win the ad- 
miration of men and the grateful commendation of 
God by merely keeping the commandments. Jesus 
points out that there is no special merit in that ; it is 
only doing bare duty. The service of love, which 
Christ seeks to lead to, asks, not how little must we 
do to escape God's judgment, but how much can 
we do to please Him and express our love and 
gratitude to Him. 

2. The injunctions of Matt. 5 : 38-48 teach some- 
thing more than passive yielding to necessity; they 
urge helpful kindness over and above what the 
commandment requires. Paul illustrates the differ- 
ence between the free service of the sons of God 
and the "unprofitable" service of slaves in His own 
case in 1 Cor. 9 : 14-23. 

3. In the light of this parable have we found 
the true spirit of Christian service as long as we 
approach the problems of life, asking how little we 
may do for Christ and yet be a Christian? 

Fifth Day. The Laborers in the Vineyard. Matt. 
19 : 27—20 : 16. 
1. The story assumes that it was customary for 
men seeking employment to wait in the market- 
place. The word translated "penny" or "shilling" 
is the denarius, worth a little more than fifteen 
cents, but a common day's wage in Palestine in 



UNFIT FOR THE KINGDOM 



S3 



Christ's time. The laborers were hired by the day 
and paid at sunset. 

2. The occasion of the parable was Peter's ques- 
tion (19 : 27). The rich young ruler had refused to 
distribute his wealth to the poor that he might fol- 
low Jesus and acquire heavenly treasure (19:16- 
22). Peter calls to Jesus' attention the fact that 
the apostles had done what the young ruler declined 
to do, and asks, "What shall we have?" Jesus re- 
plies that they shall have ample reward, but warns 
him that these rewards are not to be reckoned on 
any formal or outward basis of time spent or labor 
performed. Many that are first by such reckoning 
shall be last in the distribution of the kingdom's 
rewards. To show how and why this shall be is the 
purpose of the parable. 

3. The central point in the story is found in the 
fact that those hired at the sixth, ninth and eleventh 
hours had been idle up to the time they were hired, 
because no man had hired them. They went into 
the vineyard as soon as they had the opportunity and 
did all they could. The owner rewards them ac- 
cording to their desire and purpose. That they 
had not come earlier and done more was because of 
lack of opportunity and not through any fault of 
theirs. 

Sixth Day. The Laborers in the Vineyard (Con- 
tinued). 

1. The parable is symbolic. The vineyard is the 
Kingdom of God ; the owner is Christ ; the laborers 
are followers of Jesus. 



84 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



2. The lesson is that in the Kingdom of God 
priority of membership or amount of service will 
not entitle one to preeminence over another with 
less to his account, if the inequality of results be 
due to lack of opportunity. It is willingness that 
counts (see 2 Cor. 8: 12). 

3. The apostles have no preeminence over twen- 
tieth century Christians merely because they were 
first in time. A man's ecclesiastical office entitles 
him to no preeminence over the humblest layman, 
to whom no office has given opportunity to show 
capacity. If we were able to look beyond the out- 
ward appearances and position and see the real 
character as God does, how many that we reckon 
first would be last and last first ! 

4. Rewards in the spiritual kingdom are based 
on spiritual things. The man with two talents, in 
the parable of the Talents, received the same com- 
mendation as the man with five, not because he had 
earned equally much, but because he had been 
equally faithful. 

"Not on the vulgar mass 
Called 'work' must sentence pass. 
But all the world's coarse thumb 
And finger failed to plumb, 
So passed in making up the main account; 
All instincts immature, 
All purposes unsure, 

That weighed not as his work, yet swelled the man's 

amount ; 
Thoughts hardly to be packed 
Into a narrow act, 

Fancies that broke through language and escaped; 
All I could never be, 



UNFIT FOR THE KINGDOM 



85 



All men ignored in me, 

This, I was worth to God, whose wheel the pitcher 
shaped." 

— Browning, Rabbi Ben Ezra. 

Seventh Day. Review. 

1. The parables of this group call attention both 
positively and negatively to certain types of charac- 
ter that easily pass for religious and yet which Jesus 
brands as unfit for His kingdom. 

2. The first is that which makes ready profes- 
sion of obedience to God, but always stop short of 
actual performance of the Master's will. 

3. The second is that which is satisfied to ob- 
serve the letter of the commandments and expects 
approval for doing so much. As if we should call a 
man a good citizen who merely kept within the let- 
ter of the laws enough to escape punishment as a 
criminal ! 

4. The last is that which undertakes the service 
of Christ in a bargaining spirit with the reward the 
most prominent matter in mind; and which wishes 
service rated according to outward tests of time and 
work. 

5. Review them all carefully. 



LESSON X 



THE JEWISH NATION AND THE KINGDOM OF 
GOD 

First Day. The Barren Fig Tree. Luke 13 : 6-9. 

1. The story. The fig tree was exceptionally 
well situated, according to Jewish ideas, because 
planted in a vineyard. The fact that the owner had 
failed to find fruit on it for three successive years 
after it ought to have been bearing fruit was proof 
of its barrenness. The barren tree was not' only 
useless, but it deteriorated the soil by drawing the 
moisture out so that vines could not grow near it. 

2. The parable was spoken during the Perean 
ministry of Jesus. Ever since the time of the trans- 
figuration it had been clear to Jesus that the nation 
would reject Him, and in so doing seal its own 
doom (see Luke 9:18-36). The immediate occa- 
sion of the parable according to Luke's order was 
the incident recorded in Luke 13 : 1-5. Jesus denies 
the favorite Jewish doctrine that exceptional suffer- 
ing or misfortune is proof of exceptional sinfulness 
and tells His hearers that such calamities as the 
Galileans and Jerusalemites had recently suffered 
were but a premonition of the doom awaiting the 
whole nation unless they should all repent. 

3. The central point lies in the fact that the 
fruitless fig tree was given a brief respite through 
the mercy of the owner while the vinedresser 
worked with it, and that if then it should prove un- 
fruitful its destruction was certain. 



THE JEWISH NATION 



87 



4. The vineyard represents the world; the fig 
tree the Jewish nation ; the owner stands for God ; 
and the vinedresser, if he is to be interpreted at all, 
stands for Christ. 

5. The lesson is that the Jewish nation, having 
long failed to bear true fruit of righteousness, is 
given a brief respite while Christ tries to make it 
fruitful, and if it fail then, its doom is decreed 
(cf. Isaiah 5:1-7). 

6. The lesson is true of individuals as well as 
nations. One who does not do the work God calls 
him to must be removed from his post that the work 
may be done. An idler is in the way of some one 
who would do the service faithfully (see Rom. 
2:4). 

Second Day. The Wicked Vinedressers. Matt. 
21 : 33-46 ; Mark 12 : 1-12 ; Luke 20 : 9-19. 

1. The story. Compare the details in the 
preparation of the vineyard with those in Isaiah 5 : 
2. The wine press was a vat usually hewn out of 
stone in which the grapes were placed that the 
juice might be pressed out by treading them with 
the bare feet (cf. Isaiah 63:2, 3). The hedge- 
usually a stone wall — was to protect the vineyard 
from beasts and the tower was for the watchman 
who guarded the vineyard against thieves. The 
vineyard was rented to the husbandmen or vine- 
dressers for a certain proportion of the fruit. No- 
tice the art with which Jesus gets the hearers to 
pronounce judgment on the wicked vinedressers, 
in Matt. 21:40, 41 (cf. 2 Sam. 12:5, 6). 



88 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



2. This parable is one of the three parables of 
warning uttered on the same occasion as that of the 
Two Sons. The lesson is plainly stated by Jesus in 
Matt. 21 : 43. 

3. The central point of the story is the destruc- 
tion of the vinedressers who beat the owner's ser- 
vants and killed his son in the hope of possessing 
the vineyard themselves, and the letting of the vine- 
yard afresh to husbandmen who would render the 
rents when due (Matt. 22:41). 

4. In the symbolism of the parable, the vine- 
yard is the Kingdom of God ; the owner, God ; the 
servants, the prophets ; the son, Jesus ; the husband- 
men, the Jews; the other husbandmen to whom it 
will be let out, the Gentiles. 

5. The lesson is concisely put in Matt. 21 : 43. 
The quotation in Matt. 21 : 42 is from Psalm 118 : 
22, 23. It seems to be founded on an old Jewish 
tradition that at the building of the temple a stone 
for which the builders could find no place during 
the progress of the work, proved to be the missing 
capstone of the corner at last. Matt. 22 : 44 is 
missing in many manuscripts of the gospel. It 
takes up the figure of verse 42 comparing Jesus to 
a stone and speaks of the fate of one who should 
stumble over the stone or upon whom it might roll 
down. 

Third Day. The Wicked Vinedressers (Con- 
tinued). 

1. In the parable Jesus sets forth very plainly 
the fate of the Jewish nation and the reasons for 



THE JEWISH NATION 



89 



its destruction and forecasts the future acceptance 
of the gospel by the Gentiles. 

2. The destruction of the Jewish nation is deter- 
mined by its rejection of Jesus. The reason for 
their killing Him is that they wished to enjoy God's 
kingdom for themselves rather than to render to 
God the fruits of righteousness and world-wide 
service which He called upon them to render. The 
same selfish spirit is expressed in cynically plain 
words by the high priest and Pharisees in John 
11 : 47-50. 

3. The general principle involved in the parable 
is as applicable to individuals as to nations. Ability 
implies responsibility. Men are "saved to serve." 
All God's gifts are trusts to be used for His work. 
Whether it be wealth, mental or social talents, or 
spiritual graces, that have been received, the re- 
cipient must use them so as to render fruit unto 
God, or else pay the penalty of those who shirk 
the responsibility of their privileges. 

4. Do we cherish our religious privileges and 
membership in God's kingdom solely or chiefly for 
the peace, safety, reputation and other blessings 
they confer on ourselves, and think little or not at 
all of the obligations to God and others they im- 
pose? If so, are we really better than the vine- 
dressers of the parable? 

Fourth Day. The Great Banquet. Luke 14 : 15-24. 

1. The story. The parable assumes a custom, 
still practiced in the East, of sending two invita- 
tions to a feast — the first a general invitation, the 



90 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



second a notification at the time of the feast. To 
decline the second invitation after accepting the 
first was a deadly insult. The excuses offered in 
the parable with varying degrees of courtesy merely 
show that the invited guests were more interested 
in their own possessions than in the pleasure of 
their host. The streets are the broad places or 
avenues of the city, the lanes narrow alleys. Those 
traveling the highways or camping at night along 
the hedgerows would be travelers outside the city. 

2. The occasion of the parable is found in the 
remark of one of the Pharisees at the feast de- 
scribed in Luke 14 : 1-14. Jesus gave advice as to 
true hospitality and stated that those who invited 
men to their feasts out of kindness, not expecting a 
return in kind, would be recompensed in the resur- 
rection of the righteous. One of His hearers, think- 
ing that as good Jews they were sure of participat- 
ing in the feast which they thought of as the su- 
preme felicity of the children of Abraham in the 
Kingdom of God, interjected the pious remark of 
verse 15. Jesus tells the parable to show the dan- 
ger of the Jewish leaders' missing that very blessed- 
ness. 

3. The central point is the exclusion of the in- 
vited guests who were preoccupied with their own 
affairs, and the participation in it of those not first 
invited but hastily gathered from the city streets 
and country roads. 

Fifth Day. The Great Banquet (Continued). 
1. The symbolism is transparent: The feast is 



THE JEWISH NATION 



91 



the Kingdom of God; the maker of the feast is 
God; the invited guests, the Jewish leaders; those 
from the city's streets and lanes, the outcasts and 
sinners ; those from the highways and hedges, Gen- 
tiles. 

2. The lesson of the parable is the deposition of 
the Jewish upper classes from their positions of 
influence and privilege and the admission of out- 
casts and Gentiles into the Kingdom of God. 

3. Here again the principles are just as appli- 
cable to individuals of all races and ages. None 
dare to presume upon their privileges as if special 
favorites of God and believe that blood or culture 
or some other trait will cause God to overlook in- 
difference to His invitations and purposes. 

4. Read Luke 13 : 22-30. 

Sixth Day. The Royal Marriage Feast. Matt. 
22 : 1-14. 

1. This parable resembles that of the Great Ban- 
quet much as the parable of the Pounds resembles 
that of the Talents. In this parable the maker of 
the feast is a king and it is the wedding feast for 
his son. In keeping with this he sends his armies 
to burn the city of the rebellious subjects who 
scorned his invitation and slew his servants. The 
feast is filled with guests gathered from the high- 
ways outside the rebellious city. Thus far the para- 
ble runs closely parallel with that of the Great Ban- 
quet with only the added elements due to the royal 
dignity of the king and the occasion. 

2. The lesson of the parable thus far is closely 



92 



THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



allied also to that of the Great Banquet. The king 
represents God; his son, Christ; the wedding feast, 
the consummation of the Kingdom of God; the in- 
vited guests, the Jews ; those from the highways, 
the Gentiles. 

3. A new and important feature is the man with- 
out a wedding garment. The story assumes that 
these men gathered in with kindly compulsion had 
been given an opportunity to wash off the stains of 
travel and put on festal attire of the king's provid- 
ing. Had this not been true, the man would not 
have been speechless for lack of an excuse. The 
outer darkness is just the dark street outside the 
lighted banquet chamber (see Matt. 8: 12). 

4. This incident is introduced into the parable 
to teach the conditions under which the Gentiles 
would be admitted into the kingdom. Morally the 
Jews were better than Gentiles. How, then, men 
might ask, could the reign of righteousness be pro- 
moted by admitting the Gentiles in their unclean- 
ness while the Jews were excluded? Jesus' answer 
in the parable is that a new and clean nature will be 
provided them as a gift of grace. Any one who 
should so little reverence and value God's invita- 
tion as to come into His presence to share His 
blessings lacking that purity of character without 
which men may not see God, would find his pre- 
sumption vain. 

The teaching of this parable runs close to Paul's 
doctrine of righteousness (or justification) by 
God's free grace. There, as here, it is always im- 
plied that one so accounted worthy of the Kingdom 



THE JEWISH NATION 



93 



of God, must through repentance and faith let God 
make him worthy. 

Seventh Day. Review. 

1. Review the parables of the lesson and notice 
how with increasing clearness they forecast the 
future of the Kingdom of God in relation to Jews 
and Gentiles and predict the fate of the Jewish na- 
tion. 

2. "From the day of Jesus, the Jewish people 
were thus to cherish two ideals of the Kingdom of 
God — that of the Pharisee and Zealot, and that of 
the Christian. Each ideal had its future, but so 
far as we know, Jesus was the one person who 
foresaw what these futures would be. His lamen- 
tations over the cities of Galilee and Jerusalem 
were prophecies of the inevitable outcome of the 
rejection of the future He might have given Judea, 
as certainly as, through His followers, He has 
made Christian people the arbiters of the world. 
For the Messianism of Pharisee and Zealot was to 
bring the Jewish nation to its end" (Mathews, 
A History of New Testament Times in Palestine) . 

3. What effect must it have on our estimate of 
the character of Jesus thus to realize how accurately 
He, alone of His generation, foresaw the outcome 
of His work and of the Jews' rejection of Him? 

Think back over the whole course, to see how 
the study has (1) changed your conception of 
Christ and of Christianity, and (2) how much it 
has increased your obligation to live on a more 



94 THE PARABLES OF JESUS 



Christlike plane ; and to ask whether the desire and 
the resolve for a true membership in the Kingdom 
of Christ have kept pace with your increasing light. 

"Father, may Thy Kingdom come; 
May Thy will be done as in heaven so on earth." 



BIBLE TEXTS FOR CLASSES OF YOUNG 
WOMEN 

The Message of the Earlier Prophets to Israel. 

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Studies in the Gospel according to St. Mark. 

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Lessons in the Gospel by John. 

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Bible Studies on the Book of Acts. 

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Sixteen lessons. 40 cents. 

The Epistles of Paul. 

By Edward E. Nourse of Hartford Theological 
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